


Still

by Rejection_isnt_failure



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Based on an episode in season 5 - Still, F/F, castle - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-25 20:34:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 25,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16205159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rejection_isnt_failure/pseuds/Rejection_isnt_failure
Summary: It only takes one single moment for everything someone once knew and loved to turn on its head completely; sometimes that moment feels as though it lasts an entire lifetime. Beca and Chloe's lives are in danger, and yet, everything is completely still. Sometimes it's important to take a step back and remember everything that got them to where they currently are. Together.





	Still

**Author's Note:**

> A Castle/Pitch Perfect crossover that spiralled into something so amazingly beautiful. Trust me, I chose the best episode of Castle to base my fic on. You don't need any prior knowledge to the series, so just sit back, relax, and let yourself be transported away.
> 
> Heavily inspired by Castle, Season 5, episode 22 - Still.
> 
> If you are a Castle lover like me, you may recognise a few of the best Castle quotes scattered around my fic. Purely from memory.
> 
> Thanks to lets_talk_acapella for her amazing beta skills and for checking those gosh darned tenses.
> 
> Pitch Perfect is not mine, nor is Castle. I wish.

Just so people don’t get confused with the timeline:

  

                      Chloe:                                        Beca:                                              Year:   

  * **BARDEN**



                      Freshman                                   -

                      Sophmore                                   -

                      Junior                                         -

                      Senior                                      Freshman                                  Sept 2012 - Jul 2013

                      Super-Senior 1                         Sophmore                                 Sept 2013 - Jul 2014

                      Super-Senior 2                         Junior                                       Sept 2014 - Jul 2015

                      Super-Senior 3                        Senior                                       Sept 2015 - Jul 2016

 

 

  * ** Brooklyn **(Beca, Chloe, Amy) -                                                      August 2016 - March 2018



 

  * ** USO Tour**–                                                                                    March 2018 (2 weeks)



 

  * ** Beca/Chloe get together (end of USO Tour)**\-                             March 2018



 

  * **B eca/Chloe move in together (no Amy)**\-                                     April 2018  



 

  * **Beca and Chloe are together (Brooklyn)** \-                                    March 2018 



 

  * **Present Time in the fic** \-                                                               2024 (6 years after USO)



 

 

_************************************************************************_

_Heat._

_Sweltering heat._

 

_A fire that begs to consume the entirety of someone’s very being; intentionally slashing away their strength and leaving behind only fear and desperation in its place._

_It was enough to demolish the once resilient foundation upon which one had based their entire existence; a feat that was, up to this exact moment, believed unimaginable and impossible._

 

_Time._

_It runs but never, for one second, stands stationary._

_Until now._

 

_Silence._

_For right at this very instant, where time ought to flow as continuously as it always has done, everything had become…_

**_Still._ **

****

 

*********

 

It had all happened so fast.

 

Faster than anyone could ever have thought possible.

 

One moment, someone could come through the front door laughing, joyous and completely unaware of what exactly they had walked into.

 

And the next?

 

It could be all gone.

 

Just like that.

 

Sometimes it’s the little things in life we miss more than anything when they are no longer present. After all, if it’s hard to miss something you never had, what does that say once a person has had it? Does it make it any easier?

 

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, as they all say.

 

But does it really?

 

If someone truly loves something, then surely the lack of its presence leaves behind nothing but a large gaping void, unable to be replenished.

 

How can this physical separation cause anything other than anguish?

 

Yes, there is the hope that whatever left will return; but what if it does not? What if someone spends their entire life waiting for something to come back, that never does?

 

Life is a fickle thing.

 

It has a way of turning everything a person once knew on its head and causing an unnecessary amount of havoc. Some people take the lemons life gives them in order to make lemonade, others squeeze them in someone else’s eyes with nothing but a large ‘fuck you’ to follow.

 

It has a way of ruining everything you had worked hard to achieve, everything you had ever loved… everything you had ever believed in.

 

And sometimes…

 

It could do it all once.

 

*****

 

 

It had been unexpected; that’s for sure. Unprecedented simply because it was too farfetched to have even begun to think probable. It had come from nowhere and, if anything, a person might have supposed it could happen to someone else… but not them. Never to them.

 

The floorboards ever so slightly giving away under foot.

 

The echoing _clunk_ that followed shortly after.

 

All was quiet.

 

All was _still._

 

*****

 

 

It had been a day just like any other.

 

The temperature was in the high seventies and there was not a single cloud in the sky… okay, the last thing in itself was rather unusual for New York City in September, but who’s to judge? A normal person would take advantage of any amount of sunshine and relish its temporary embrace by doing as much as physically possible before it was too late.

 

The calm before the storm, so to speak.

 

That’s precisely what Beca and Chloe had done. They had taken the wonderful opportunity to have a long and casual stroll, hand in hand, through their favourite park in central Brooklyn, relatively close to their apartment complex.

 

It was always peaceful there and the openness of the location never failed to make it look more picturesque than most other parks. About halfway through their usual path lay a beautiful lake with many a bench overlooking its shimmering surface. The two girls oft sat there, lost in their own world where no one but the two of them existed. It was their ‘getaway’ spot, their special spot… their sentimental haven. It was also the very place Beca had officially asked Chloe to be her girlfriend four and a half years prior.

 

The couple had basked in their time together away from their hectic schedules and overbearing workplaces. It was just them and no one else to interrupt them. No Fat Amy ruining their moment, no Stacie to comment on the amount of sexual tension in the air, no Lily to not-so-secretly scrutinise them unblinkingly… only Beca and Chloe. They loved their girls, don’t get them wrong, but they cherished every moment they had together, just the two of them.

 

That was one of the wonderful things about their friendship. No matter how stressed they were; no matter how little time they otherwise had, they _always_ made time for one another. Even throughout their time at Barden, their free time was usually spent joined at the hip. That was one of the reasons behind Beca’s inevitable break up with Jesse. He had been patient, but Beca had never really put in the extra effort for him. Not like she did with the redhead.

 

It had been more natural with Chloe because she would see her every day. For God’s sake, they shared the same house for three years and were also co-captains. If they weren’t planning for the next rehearsal, they were getting coffees and meals together or having impromptu sleepovers. They were practically joined at the hip.

 

It was also the reason as to why Chloe had never dated. Everyone with two working eyes could see that she never looked at anyone else the way she did her best friend. If she were being honest, she had never even bothered to try. The most perceptive of people would liken it to the way one’s grandfather would look at his wife, or the way one’s father would look at his wife; with utter devotion, love and faithfulness. As though their significant other had put the stars in the sky and water in the ocean.

 

As though there were no one else worth looking at.

 

Well, that was how Chloe had looked at Beca from the very beginning, and nothing had changed over time.

 

Six wonderful years they have already spent together. **_Together_** together, that is.

 

2190 days.

 

52,560 hours.

 

3,153,600 minutes…

 

Just the two of them, in love, side by side. The way it was meant to be.

 

The end of the USO Tour- way back when Beca, Chloe and Amy had been sharing their miniscule studio apartment- was the moment the two girls had finally thrown all caution to the wind. Feelings were brought up, **properly** brought up. No ‘we’ll do this another time’, ‘do we have to?’ or ‘I have other stuff that I could be doing’.

 

It was the talk that had been a long time coming. Over time, both girls had become adept at avoiding it, so it had been essential in order to get their asses into gear. What had been impressive to the Bellas for a while had been how oblivious Beca and Chloe were to the other’s feelings. Everyone had seen it; no seriously, **everyone**.

 

The most important thing was that they hadn’t looked back since.

 

It had taken the six years **prior** to the Tour to even work their way up to that very point; six excruciatingly torturous years. Not that Chloe regretted it; any of it. Of course not. She became closer to Beca than she’d ever dreamed possible. She’d gotten to know the ins and outs of her personality and everything that made Beca who she was. Her only regret was the same old, same old cliché trope of not saying something about her feelings sooner, yada yada.

 

Chloe had been forced to watch Beca fumble through her relationship with Jesse for the first three years of their friendship, and it had honestly been the hardest thing she’d ever had to do.

 

It was never an easy thing for anyone, to see the person they love think that they loved someone else. But Chloe had known… she had _known_ that Beca felt the same way about her. But ultimately Beca had to work it out herself, lest Chloe risk scaring away the only good thing in her life.

 

And wait she did.

 

For. Four. Years, at Barden. And then two more after that in Brooklyn.

 

She had almost given up.

 

Someone else had taken an interest in her for the duration of that Tour and, although she was still hung up on Beca, she knew that she needed to consider other people.

 

Chicago was a decent man. He was charming and polite, handsome and loyal… but there was no _fire_ between them. No chemistry. No burning desire to become closer, to… want to get to know every little thing about him.

 

Not like with _Beca_.

 

She had spent the first half of her and Beca’s friendship knocking down those sturdy Fort Knox walls; taking it all apart, brick by brick, until nothing was left. Nothing but the beautiful and vulnerable girl that stood on the other side of the rubble, waiting patiently for someone to see her for who she truly is. _That_ Beca was the Beca she had been searching for. The one that only she was privileged to see.

 

The love of her life.

 

She had come so, so close to letting her go; she had _almost_ chosen the handsome soldier instead.

 

But before she could do anything, along came Beca; clad in her jaw-droppingly breath-taking outfit that gleamed its golden glow. Her hair had been perfectly done up for her performance and her eyes, well, she had always had a weakness for those stormy greys.

 

There was always so much emotion hidden from the rest of the world, it was as though there was a silent plea for someone to help; someone to see her inner turmoil. Chloe wanted, with every fibre of her being, to be that person for her; to be _her_ person.

 

She remembered how her heart had stopped at the sight of the brunette at that very moment, only for it to restart with a furious thump as she realised that the petite girl had begun sauntering over to where she had been standing with Chicago.

 

The second their eyes had locked onto one another, the world around them had simply vanished. Ocean blue clashed into stormy grey with never an intention of turning elsewhere.

 

Chloe had started to formulate words only for Beca to shove past the soldier in order to pull the redhead forcefully into her own body by the lapels of her leather jacket, their lips crashing together furiously and desperately.

 

Finally.

 

That had been the very moment Chloe had sworn to never let her go again.

 

The spark between them had furiously ignited as though gasoline had been poured onto it and their lips had moulded together perfectly as though they had been made for each other.

 

It could have been minutes or even hours later that the two girls parted from the other’s lips; although they remained within their close embrace, not quite ready to return to the real world. Looking around, they had been surprised to see that there was nobody around. Well, maybe not ‘nobody’… Fat Amy had been there filming them both with her phone… no doubt ready to send the incriminating video to the bloodthirsty group of girls that were elsewhere.

 

That had been the start of their forever.

 

No more waiting; no more ‘will they, won’t they’ moments; no more fear of their feelings for one another being unrequited.

 

It was just them and whatever the future held for them.

 

But at no point had either woman expected what was to come merely six years later.

 

 

*********

 

Hours had passed, surely, or maybe it had only been minutes. After all, time is relative, according to Einstein, and yet it is difficult to fathom how exactly a period of time can vary in length according to who had objectively been asked.

 

Her head feels fuzzy, that’s for sure.

 

Fear seeps through every pore on Chloe’s skin and grips her heart tightly into its iron fist, encasing it and entrapping the organ for as long as it possibly could. It is positively paralysing.

 

Chloe’s heart almost stops the moment she realises what was happening. It wasn’t hard to figure out. The floor giving way slightly beneath her foot, followed by the almighty _clunk_ and the almost imperceptible _ticking_ …

 

She is standing on a bomb.

 

There was the most miniscule possibility that she was wrong, but she couldn’t afford to take the risk. There was too much at stake; both her own life and Beca’s too… as well as everyone within the building and the surrounding vicinity. She’d rather be safe and wrong, than careless and right.

 

Beca hadn’t moved an inch either; it could very easily have been her that had triggered the noise. After all, they had entered their apartment at the exact same moment and had both taken footsteps simultaneously elsewhere. Chloe had stridden towards their kitchen, having placed her handbag on their counter, and Beca in the direction of the sitting room.

 

But Chloe _knew_.

 

Something had felt _off_ the moment she had placed her right foot down. She’d seen the metaphorical red flags; her gut was telling her that she was the one in danger whilst her heart was telling her to get Beca away from here. To keep her safe.

 

They were both in each other’s line of sight, having stopped dead in their tracks; fear etched onto every contour of their faces as they stared at one another in abrupt horror.

 

Heartbeats quickening by the second, as though one were imagining the instrumental accompaniment to a horror movie. It was as though the setting up of the scene carried with it a slow and almost meticulous sense of foreboding; the further the scene plays out, the faster the anticipation for something bad to follow rises. _Fear_ cannot be limited to a particular type of sound, but rather it links to the feelings that it evokes.

 

And right now, that level of fear was threatening to increase tenfold.

 

“Beca…” Chloe whimpers as tears begin to shimmer in her eyes. Her knuckles fist the sheer material of her loose shirt as she tried to gather her bearings; much more difficult than anyone could imagine in such circumstances. The pounding of her heart in her ears is deafening in the otherwise silent apartment as though the organ is trying so desperately to escape from its confines.

 

“Don’t say it, Chlo. It can’t, it just can’t-” Beca hisses, panic overwhelming her senses. She wants nothing more than to comfort her girlfriend; reassure her that all was well, but the redhead had forced her to stay impossibly still. For someone who could spend hours upon hours mixing music on her laptop, she finds it very difficult to sit completely still, let alone stand.

 

Chloe shakes her head vigorously, strands of her hair falling from her pony-tail at the movement. “-it has to be, babe. There’s nothing else it could be. I felt the floor physically give way as I took the step. You heard the noise too.”

 

She pauses as she takes a shaky breath. “We’ve seen every episode of CSI and we’ve watched the first six seasons of Castle. You know there’s a _bomb_.” Her voice wobbles as she attempts to compose herself by taking long and deep inhalations. It was something that would always calm her down, way back when she used to have anxiety attacks as a child. She would to be told that by regulating her breathing, it helped transfer enough oxygen to the brain and assisted in ensuring that the blood carried enough of this oxygen to the heart too.

 

The reality of the danger they could potentially be in is proving to be very difficult for Chloe to overcome. The hardest part is the uncertainty. Not knowing what could happen, not knowing what they were up against… not knowing if things would turn out okay. It was as though they were being tested somehow. A cruel, cruel test.

 

Releasing a ragged breath, Beca reaches into her jeans pocket for her mobile. “I’m calling the cops, babe. They will get together a bomb disposal team and they will tell us it was just a loose floorboard or something. We’ll be laughing about it over dinner, Chlo. I promise. I love you so much and I refuse to believe that this is how it ends for us.” Chloe’s heart all but stops at the determination that coated Beca’s words; her girlfriend was her knight in plaid armour. She was always there to save the day.

 

Chloe has been Beca’s rock for so many years; her backbone, her strength, her courage… her everything. She is her light on her darkest days; the hope amidst the uncertainty that encompasses the world. Beca needs to be strong for Chloe; she just has to.

 

If only she could hold Chloe in her arms right now; she would take her girlfriend’s body gently into her arms and pull her into a warm embrace, with never an intention of letting go. She never used to like hugs, but as with almost everything else that makes Beca who she is today, Chloe brought it out in her.

 

She can picture it now. Chloe’s fingers intertwining at the base of her scalp, the other girl’s face buried into her neck as she inhales her scent deeply. Chloe had always told her that she always smelt like pine trees, and fresh air… and home. Their bodies as physically close to one another as possible, Beca’s own hands resting on her girlfriend’s lower back, as though holding her in place. Her own head resting on Chloe’s shoulder.

 

After making the necessary phone call, the bomb squad took no less than seven minutes to appear, followed shortly by a team of cops and a team of firefighters; apparently the more urgent the situation, the faster they come. If only they could tell that to the cops that had arrived an hour after making a call to them over a year ago; way back when their upstairs neighbours had been angrily throwing objects at one another. _Their pizza arrived before those fuckwits, for God’s sake_.

 

Before they knew it, the squad had been present for well over fifteen minutes; laptops and other technological equipment had been set up all over their apartment as well as the one on the floor directly beneath them, as the teams surveyed and scoured every visible surface for answers to their questions. It was _chaos._

 

Tension was high the longer they waited; Beca feels her fingers twitching. Standing absolutely motionless is driving her insane. It is physically impossible for her. She feels her knees begin to lock and her feet begin to numb; that in itself was almost enough to have her raise white flags in surrender.

 

She has to physically restrain herself from tapping her left foot in frustration. It was an unfortunate nervous tick that had stemmed early on in her youth as a result of the hundreds of arguments her parents had, not only in front of her, but behind closed doors. The moments where she needed to distract herself from the pulsating anger enshrouding the atmosphere with music. The _drumming_ motion never failed to soothe her; the rhythmic beat made her feel at one with the tempo.

 

Ask her father; she would usually beg to escape the tense surroundings of their family meals growing up, and that was _before_ her parents’ divorce. Imagine how she felt dining with her father and new wife _after_. In fact, she avoided it at all costs. Although things were better between them now; she had, for the most part, forgiven him. However, as they say, forgive what hurt you, but never forget what it taught you.

 

“How long do you think we’ll have to stand here, Chlo?” The brunette murmurs, her eyes constantly flickering back to her girlfriend as though to ensure that she was still okay.

 

“I don’t know Becs. They need to finish surveying the apartment to see if there are any other bombs, or just the one I’m standing on.” Chloe sighs loudly, rubbing her face tiredly with her hands.

 

“Hey, hey, hey. We don’t know for sure that you are standing on a bomb. For all we know, it could be nothing; a wonky floorboard even. The click could have been caused by a loose nail hitting the concrete underneath.” The brunette couldn’t even begin imagining what they’d do if it were actually a bomb. They had planned out their entire life together, starting with the ring she’d hidden at the bottom of her bedside table, unbeknownst to Chloe.

 

“Beca, I’m telling you that I felt something the moment I put pressure on the floor; it didn’t feel like nothing to me. It felt like a, um, a-” She tries to think of the appropriate word.

 

A lady who was meticulously sweeping the area around her feet, helpfully supplies, “Trigger plate.”

 

“Yes! A trigger-plate. Thank you.” But the woman had already continued her work, ignoring Chloe’s politeness.

 

“You hungry?” Beca blurts randomly.

 

“Pardon?” Chloe blinks in confusion at the sudden subject change.

 

“Well any moment now, they are going to let us know that everything is A-okay and that we are in no danger whatsoever. At that point, we will then go out for a lovely dinner at our favourite diner and celebrate life.” The brunette states matter-of-factly.

 

Chloe smiles at Beca adoringly, loving how much effort she was putting into calming her down. That was one thing that hadn’t changed over the years; whether Chloe was nervous for an exam, a test, a doctor’s appointment or whatever, Beca would always take the time to comfort her and tell her how proud she was of her.

 

“You know, that diner where their caramelized pancakes are so delicious that your taste buds explode on contact-” Beca’s eyes widen at her error.

 

“Shit! I mean, they are to die for- SHIT!” Beca covers her face in embarrassment at her careless slip up.

 

Chloe chuckles loudly, already feeling lighter than before.

 

“I’m happy to be _not stuck on a bomb_ with you, of all people, Becs.” She coos, grinning goofily at her lover.

 

Before Beca can respond, a tall woman, clad in her official police uniform, enters their apartment with a grave look on her face. She shows them both her badge, _Captain of the Fifty-Second Precinct_ , as proof of her identity.

 

“I’m Captain Evans, which of you is Rebecca Mitchell, the lady who made the call?” Her stare was unwavering.

 

Beca gestures to herself, “That’s me. I’m Beca.” Chloe could hear the nervousness in her voice; it was so unlike Beca to be scared that it physically ripped the redhead apart. It was so hard to see.

 

“Well Beca, you can relax. We’ve swept the entirety of this apartment, as well as the one below, and there are no other explosives.” Captain Evans states calmly as she eyes her carefully.

 

“Oh excellent! Chlo! You hear that? Everything’s okay.” Beca is delirious; she breathes a sigh of relief as a great weight was lifted from her chest. “Babe?”

 

Chloe remains still, a pensive look on her face as her eyebrows furrow in thought.

 

She catches Beca’s uncertain look and grimaces. “ _Other_ explosives.”

 

As quickly as the weight had lifted, it drops right back onto Beca’s chest at the implication.

 

“Other?!” She asks incredulously, her eyes widening in panic as she stumbles backwards, reeling in horror at the implication.

 

The Captain nods, her face devoid of emotion.

 

“Miss Beale, you’ve stepped on a senor plate wired to a detonator. It is a pressure sensitive bomb that is triggered by movement. Stepping onto the plate is the equivalent of cocking the hammer of a gun. Stepping off of the plate is like pulling the trigger. I’m afraid you cannot move until we figure out how to deactivate it.”

 

Chloe lets out a shaky breath, but ultimately nods in agreement.

 

Jesus.

 

 

***

 

“You don’t think it’s related, do you?” Chloe wonders not even ten minutes after having had the _bombshell_ dropped on them.

 

There is a flurry of activity occurring in their apartment as all the necessary precautions and standard protocols are being executed. Although it was known that there was a bomb under Chloe’s foot, nothing else appeared to be identified about the bomb itself. No one knew what kind of bomb they were dealing with or whether the device could even be deactivated.

 

The cops had evacuated the entire building, as well as all of the surrounding buildings and shops, whilst the firefighters waited outside on standby.

 

It was _surreal._

 

“Huh?” Beca’s eyes snap to Chloe at the question, having been lost in thought for a few moments prior.

 

The brunette, who had been given permission to move from her spot by the Captain, had, by now, meandered as close to Chloe as possible without endangering either of their lives. She _needed_ to be next to her girlfriend; it was the only thing keeping both of them sane.

 

“The bomb. In the apartment. You don’t think it’s related, do you?” Chloe clarifies, her eyebrows furrowed in worry as she chewed on her lower lip nervously. Nothing seemed to add up; it was too random.

 

Beca pauses, considering the question. “Related to what?”

 

“Remember last month, you surprised me with a romantic three-day weekend getaway to The Caribbean?” The ginger asks, intent on getting the other girl to understand where she was coming from.

 

“Of course! It was our six-year anniversary, so I booked the most beautiful resort I could find-” Beca’s rambling was interrupted.

 

“-exactly! And when we came back, I found out from Dr. Michaels that a large part of the car park at the clinic had been closed off due to an unknown explosion that had happened on the Friday evening…” She trails off.

 

Beca blinks slowly, trying to recall what Chloe was referring to.

 

“Yeah… I remember that.” She nods. Taking a deep breath, Beca continues, “I was worried at the time because if it weren’t for the fact that we had already booked that Friday off, you might have been there.” Her lower lip trembled at the thought, but she quickly dismissed it since there was no point lingering on it. Chloe is alive and well… though _now_ , anything could happen.

 

“Hey, babe.” Chloe gently calls for her girlfriend’s attention, knowing the girl was lingering on the ‘what-ifs’. “I’m okay. See? I’m still in one piece.” She tried to joke, but a stab of guilt shoots through her veins as she sees Beca’s eyes flicker to where she was currently forced to stand and then down to her own lap, a sombre look on her face.

 

Wanting to take the younger girl in her arms more than anything, Chloe knows she had to remain strong. Clearing her throat, she continues with her previous line of thought. “My question is whether you think they are connected?”

 

Beca looks up at her thoughtfully, but before she could speak, another voice swiftly cuts in.

 

“That’s what I’d also like to know.” Captain Evans lingers by the door, eying Chloe curiously. The stare didn’t exactly make her feel uncomfortable, however, it did make her feel like a caged animal… like there was nowhere she could run.

 

Beca stands from where she was seated, turning to face the tall woman; her arms crossed protectively across her mid-riff. “Have you found anything out?” She asks, impatience clouding her tone. Chloe hid her smile; people often underestimated Beca because of her height, so the younger girl usually stood tall and straight with an unwavering stare, in order to get the upper hand.

 

The Captain sighs in obvious frustration, her imposing nature having softened ever-so-slightly. “My team are still trying to get up close and personal to the device, which is turning out to be more difficult than we originally anticipated. There is a lot of wiring and pipes preventing us from having a clear view and any wrong sudden movement could cause tremors, which in turn, could potentially set it off.”

 

The small brunette deflates, lowering herself back onto her seat. What was more difficult than knowing the truth, was knowing nothing at all.

 

“You said that the veterinary clinic, where the most recent explosion occurred, was the clinic at which you worked at?” The Captain mulls, directing her question to the redhead.

 

“Yes,” she answers. “My girlfriend had taken me away on the Thursday evening for our six-year anniversary, so I wasn’t there when it happened. But yes, I work at that clinic.” Chloe has a hunch that the Captain agrees with her, though for some reason, was holding something back.

 

The Captain remains silent for a moment.

 

“Do you think…” she trails off, unsure as whether it was her place to even suggest what she was thinking.

 

“What?” Beca asks, intrigued to hear what the woman was about to say.

 

But she was met with silence.

 

Beca repeats herself. “What?”

 

When the Captain looks at her for a second before turning away, the smaller brunette shoots to her feet with fire in her eyes.

 

“Listen here, lady! I think we have every right to know what you were about to say. You clearly know something and for whatever reason, you’re holding it back.” Just as soon as the fire appeared in her eyes, it was extinguished; replaced by desperation. “Look,” her voice wobbles, “my girlfriend is standing on a _bomb_. The life of the _love of my own fucking life_ is in your hands and there is nothing I can do. So please, if there’s something you need to say, just say it.”

 

Chloe releases a silent sob when she hears the amount of turmoil in Beca’s voice and her heart all but shatters when she hears her girlfriend refer to her as the “ _love of her life_ ”.

 

The Captain observes Beca closely, having listened intently to her words.

 

She nods.

 

“I was just going to ask whether you thought that perhaps… Chloe might have been the target.”

 

Beca’s answer is instant. “Absolutely not.”

 

Both the brunette and the Captain notice that Chloe had remained quiet. Turning to the redhead, they saw her thinking deeply, as though she were entertaining the possibility that she may have been the intended target.

 

“Chlo?” Her girlfriend prods.

 

“I don’t know,” was all Chloe says.

 

“Why on earth would anyone want Chloe dead!” Beca exclaims, honest confusion and incredulousness coating her tone. “Everyone loves her! Literally everyone! She is polite, selfless, endlessly kind, generous… and so many other things that we’d be here all day if I were to mention.”

 

The brunette finds herself pacing up and down, trying to think why anyone would ever want to hurt her girlfriend.

 

“Me, I’d understand. I’m a grumpy, sarcastic ass who isn’t the most pleasant person to talk to or be around. Especially before my morning coffee. I’m sure that not even your notebook there would have enough pages to list the number of people who hold grudges against me.” Although it was said in a joking matter, the young girl had never been more serious in her life.

 

Silence followed as Beca continues her frantic pacing, mumbling indecipherable nonsense to herself. It isn’t clear whether she is psyching herself up or calming herself down; either way, Chloe can feel her headache returning.

 

The Captain’s mobile rings, interrupting the stillness, and she steps out momentarily to answer.

 

Not thirty seconds later, she returns with a few members of her team from downstairs.

 

One of them steps forward with a can of spray paint and quickly makes a circle around Chloe; careful to watch his footing and absolutely precise in his measurements.

 

Seeing both Beca and Chloe’s looks of befuddlement, the Captain decides to explain what the circle represents. “That was the Chief of the Bomb Disposal Unit on the phone to me just moments ago. We are estimating that the trigger plate is about three feet by three feet. No one, I repeat, no one is to cross that circle. Am I clear?” She casts a distrusting look at Beca, knowing there was an air of recklessness that surrounding the petite brunette.

 

The brunette glares back, because fuck her she is probably right.

 

Beca stops pacing the moment she witnesses the distress appear in Chloe’s eyes and she moves forwards to comfort her, before remembering what she was told about keeping her distance.

 

She grinds her teeth and clenches her hands into fists as fury boils from deep within her veins; fury at the asshole who put them into this position. Fury at the lack of anything she can do to save Chloe.

 

It is overwhelming her; the need to take Chloe into her arms and carry her away to a place where there is no more danger.

 

Pushing back the irrational anger she currently feels, Beca spits out, “And how long will it take to disarm the bomb?”

 

The Captain responds calmly, placing a gentle hand on Beca’s shoulder; who, fighting all her instincts, doesn’t jerk away like she normally would. “We don’t know what we’re dealing with here. We need to wait for my team to find out the type of trigger bomb we have on our hands.”

 

Shaking the hand from her shoulder, Beca commences her pacing again; her fingers tangling in her hair as she pulls at it in frustration. “So, what now? What are we supposed to do in the meantime? We can’t just leave Chloe _standing_ there…” She gestures to her girlfriend emphatically, hoping for a more practical resolution.

 

Chloe raises her hand towards Beca, as though hoping to provide her some sort of reassurance or comfort that she is okay. “Becs, babe, I feel fine.”

 

“No, you’re not Chlo. You’re standing on-” She cuts herself off as she takes a deep, shaky breath.

 

Chloe is the toughest woman she knows, but even strong people have their weaknesses. She was only human after all. How long could a person stand, with no movement at all, before their legs could take the strain no more? How long could a person stand without having the ability to adjust their position, even in the most miniscule of ways? What happens when Chloe eventually needs to use the toilet?

 

Beca feels her heart hurt just imagining what Chloe was going through.

 

She’d give anything to take her place.

 

The brunette gasps as a thought hit her. “Captain, you mentioned before that stepping onto the plate is like cocking the hammer of a gun and that stepping off of it is equivalent to pulling the trigger, right?”

 

Captain Evans remains silent, having an idea what the young woman was suggesting.

 

“What if we replaced her with something that weighs the same? I saw it in a movie once, with a bag of sand replacing a golden idol? Like, we could get something of equal weight to her-” Chloe was nodding along with her line of thought, “- and if not, there is always me-”

 

Chloe stops nodding immediately and glares at her girlfriend. “Don’t you dare Rebecca Mitchell. Don’t even-”

 

“-I will do anything.” Beca interrupts her frantically.

 

Chloe feels something snap inside and she raises her voice angrily at her brunette. “I will not have you throwing your life away for me, Beca!”

 

“But-”

 

“But nothing. I love you more than I have ever loved anything-” Chloe starts, furiously wiping away her tears.

 

“And I don’t love you?” Beca sobs, a glint of hysteria visible in her eyes. “Chloe, you are my life. You are my everything. If I lose you, I might as well be-”

 

Chloe whimpers loudly as she tries to hold back her sob. “Bec.”

 

The petite brunette walks up to her girlfriend, stopping before she reaches the circle. The two women gaze into each other’s eyes, never for one second looking away. The love between the two women is palpable, and the Captain looks away from the scene, feeling as though she is intruding. “We’re going to get you out of this, Chlo. I promise you we will find a way. With every breath in my body, we’re in this together, okay?”

 

Another tear falls from Chloe’s eye and, as carefully as she could, Beca reaches out to wipe it away before gently cupping her cheek.

 

Chloe tilts her head ever-so-slightly and, kissing Beca’s palm oh-so-tenderly, she whispers, “Okay.”

 

The Captain decides to address Beca’s initial question, knowing the younger girl wouldn’t be as happy to know the truth of the situation. “Look Miss Mitch- Beca, the plate she is currently standing on can detect even the slightest alteration in pressure. You try and transfer the weight in any way shape or form, and it will trigger the bomb. Physically put any protective or safety gear onto her person, it will trigger the bomb. If she shifts from one foot to the other too quickly-”

 

“-I got it. She’ll set off the bomb. I’m sorry I asked.” Beca frowns, her hope falling like sand between her fingers. “So, I’ll ask again. What are we supposed to do? Just wait here?”

 

The Captain shakes her head. “Not you, Beca. All nonessential personnel must evacuate the building.”

 

Beca throws a false smile, “Oh, no. I am essential personnel.”

 

Chloe feels her heart start to break in her chest at what was inevitably going to happen; she had to stay strong. For Beca’s sake.

 

“It’s okay Beca.” She tries to smile reassuringly at her girlfriend as she throws her back a helpless look.

 

The Captain looks Beca directly in the eye, “We’ll take good care of her. I’ve got the best of the best downstairs figuring this out. Chloe, in the meantime, don’t move. I’ll be back to check on you soon.” She gestures Beca to the door, but the other woman remains where she is.

 

“Sorry, I appreciate it, but I’m staying.” She crosses her arms and narrows her eyes at the Captain, daring her to say otherwise; but the other woman simply sighs and leaves.

 

***

 

Chloe sighs as they both watch the door close gently behind the Captain.

 

Beca is stubborn.

 

Chloe knows that.

 

It was actually one of her most endearing traits. Beca never gave up and when she believed in something, truly believed in it, she fought back with every fibre of her being. For God’s sake, back in their final year, Beca’s boss had told her that the music she had showed him was not original enough. Did she give up? No. She went on to produce Flashlight, which, in turn, got her to where she is right now.

 

It is true that Chloe had believed for six long years, Beca could never love her back. However, looking back, she supposes she ought to have seen the reality for what it was:

 

A young girl who had grown up witnessing the worst side of love and as a result, had hidden her heart away from the world, secretly hoping to find that one person who she trusted enough to look after it. A young girl who hid behind a mask of defiance and confidence, in order to cover up her vulnerability and past scars from a society that judges her every move. A young girl who had never opened up to anyone before Chloe; had never let anyone else see her deepest fears and uncertainties. Why? Because Beca couldn’t imagine letting anyone else in.

 

So yes, all in all, Beca was stubborn. She had ignored her feelings for Chloe for the better part of four years, all through Barden and right up until her inevitable break up with Jesse; heck, even during the two years of sharing a bed in their tiny Brooklyn apartment. The thing about Beca is that her stubbornness only shows because something is important to her. Like when she knows something is worth fighting for and that it would be worth it in the end.

 

“Bec,” Chloe calls, waiting for the girl to look at her. “Please, listen to me. Don’t put yourself in danger for me, there is no reason for you to do that.”

 

Beca scoffs and looks away, twisting the rings adorning her fingers in nervousness.

 

“There’s nothing you can do here, Becs. You might as well-”

 

The brunette gasps loudly as though genuinely offended. “Nothing I can do? Aca-scuse me, madam!” The fact that she didn’t even wince at the ‘aca’ prefix made Chloe’s lips turn up slightly. Beca _never_ used that word.

 

“Who’s going to be your _bomb buddy?_ ” Her eyes were unnaturally wide and Chloe, for one long moment, thinks the other girl must have finally lost it.

 

She hesitates, not understanding what the other girl was talking about. “Bomb… _buddy_?”

 

Beca shoots to her feet, pausing momentarily to send Chloe a large grin, before taking a seat on one of the stools at their breakfast bar; conveniently as close to Chloe as she could get without risking detonating the device.

 

Holding eye contact, Beca gazed adoringly at her. “Yep. God knows how long you’ll be standing there, babe. With me here, I will ensure that your attention is diverted solely onto me… like it was last night... from between my legs.”

 

She winks coyly as the flush spreads through Chloe’s cheeks.

 

Dropping the playfulness, she earnestly pushes, “I’ll make sure to take your mind off of being tired, okay?”

 

“Okay,” Chloe responds, “but I feel fine. I’m going to be fine.”

 

Beca rolls her eyes as she chuckles lightly, running her fingers through her hair. “Because _you’re_ such a reliable judge of how you feel?”

 

Hurt fills Chloe’s body at the implication, her heart dropping slightly in her chest. “What’s that supposed to mean?” She tries and fails to hold her anger down as she waits for her girlfriend to clarify.

 

Smirking lightly at the way Chloe rose to the bait, she innocently looked away. “Oh, you know, according to you, you felt nothing for me when we first met.”

 

Shocked, Chloe’s jaw drops at the statement. Although it’s true that she never actually told Beca the precise moment she fell for her, citing that it was a gradual process that happened over the years; it still took her by surprise that Beca would doubt the extent of her feelings. “What the hell, Beca! Are you ser- oh.” Embarrassment washes over her. “I know what you’re doing.”

 

Feigning surprise, the brunette casually asks what she means.

 

“Just forget it Beca, I’m not doing this with you. You might as well just leave.” Crossing her arms defensively, she turns her head away. Even though she knows what Beca is doing, she doesn’t want the other girl questioning any part of her feelings for her. They weren’t a joke; not to her.

 

She hears Beca pause.

 

“Fine, I’ll go.”

 

Panic fills Chloe’s veins as Beca’s words register in her mind. Her heart floods with surprise and disappointment at how quickly the other girl agreed to leave her alone… standing on a bomb. She knew the other girl would be forced to leave at some point, but it was too soon. How can one say even begin to say goodbye to the love of their life?

 

Words get caught in Chloe’s throat as she desperately tries to say something, anything, to get Beca to stay just a little longer.

 

“I’ll go… if you admit you felt something for me the moment you first saw me and throughout our friendship.” She grins playfully, knowing that she had successfully taken Chloe’s mind off of her tiredness.

 

Chloe rolls her eyes, her chest feeling lighter already at the fact that Beca wasn’t going anywhere.

 

“Okay, okay. You’re right. I had feelings for you from the moment I first saw you.” Chloe pauses, waiting for Beca to react accordingly.

 

She did.

 

Her lips upturn into an arrogant grin, basking in the pleasure ay having been proven right.

 

Before-

 

“I couldn’t stand you.” Chloe continues. “Do you remember what you were like in your first year at Barden AND throughout our friendship?”

 

Beca’s grin drops the moment Chloe continues speaking, although it was replaced with a smirk. She knows Chloe was trying to get her to react.

 

“Alluring.” She purrs, causing a shiver to crawl up Chloe’s spine.

 

“Nope.” Chloe pops the ‘p’.

 

“Charming?” She raises her eyebrows, enjoying their little game.

 

“Uh uh.”

 

“Enchanting?”

 

Chloe shakes her head, a small smile playing on her lips.

 

 

***

 

~ Chloe ~

 

**_***_ **

****

**_17 thSeptember 2012 _ **

**_Barden University,_ **

**_The Activities Fair, (Chloe’s Senior Year)_ **

 

_Chloe rolls her eyes as Aubrey babbles on and on about how The Bellas were going to fail this year and that no one was going to be interested enough to want to join the group. To be honest, she had zoned out of the conversation about twenty minutes ago. She loves Aubrey to death, of course, but this is too much for her._

_Yes, it was Aubrey’s fault they were even in this mess to begin with, [though Alice (the bitch) had all but threatened her to not mess up], but why did she have to pay the price too? Aubrey’s lectures were worse than her Russian Lit lectures… talk about Snooze Fest._

_She had just picked up a small pile of leaflets from the counter when something catches her eye._

_Or should she say, someone._

_It is a petite brunette._

_She is dressed differently to the other girls that loitered the area; more… careless, so to speak. An average girl would spend time perfecting their make-up and hair, before meticulously choosing the clothes they wished to wear for the day, and yet, it seems as though she had just grabbed the first outfit that she saw in her closet._

_Chloe could see the girl’s tattoos from where she currently stood… she always did like tattoos._

_As the girl turns her back to Chloe, she spots a beautiful tattoo on the girl’s right shoulder, though she couldn’t see exactly what it was. She hopes the girl comes closer so that she can inspect it._

_She snickers as she watches the girl quickly walk away from the Barden DJs as she obviously has just found out what the booth was actually for._

_“Chloe, seriously!” She snaps her head to Aubrey, terrified that her best friend had caught her wondering eyes._

_She speculates as to why this girl had suddenly caught her attention; Chloe has never felt this… intrigue… for another girl before. The feeling felt almost foreign to her. It had always been guys for her, not that there was anything wrong with a girl feeling something for another girls. It’s just never been an issue for her._

_“We need to think this through, The Bellas-” Chloe zones out once more._

_She is disappointed when she could not find the brunette girl, so she let her eyes roam the sea of faces, looking for any likely candidates for their group._

_Her heart jolts as her eyes lock onto a pair of stormy blues._

_Noticing that the girl was making her way towards their booth, Chloe smirks._

_Well this will be interesting._

_._

_._

_._

**_1 stOctober 2012, _ **

**_Barden University,_ **

**_Baker Hall Showers, (Chloe’s Senior Year)_ **

_“You can sing!”_

_“Dude!”_

_Okay, so maybe it wasn’t her brightest idea to barge into the shower of the poor unsuspecting person who was minding their own business, but the voice… it sends shivers up and down her spine. It is hauntingly beautiful. AND singing her lady jam._

_The moment she catches sight of that floral tattoo, (yes, she is now close enough to see it properly), Chloe feels excitement course through her veins. She doesn’t even need to see the girl’s front, she knows precisely who it is… though she isn’t going to complain about the visual she has been presented with._

_She couldn’t help herself. She goes where the music takes her; it just so happens that the music took her to the very shower where a gorgeous and oh-so-very nude brunette was currently trying to cover herself from her prying eyes._

_Her stomach clenches as her eyes lock once more with those of the surely freshman. She is worried that she had blown any chance of getting to know her, but with the flush that spread over the younger girl’s cheeks after she pointedly averts her eyes, Chloe knows she has nothing to worry about._

_The moment they harmonise, Chloe knows for sure that she had found someone special._

_._

_._

_._

 

 

 

Chloe coughs slightly as she shakes herself from her memories, a large flush spreading across her cheeks much to Beca’s amusement.

 

Those weren’t exactly the memories she had been aiming for, but once she goes on that tangent, there’s no stopping her.

 

“Frustrating is the word I was looking for.” She huffs grumpily, irritated at her inability to think properly around her girlfriend… it is a problem she knew would never go away, much to her chagrin. It was the effect Beca naturally had on her.

 

“Tell that to your blush.” Beca gleefully smirks.

 

Chloe narrows her eyes.

_._

.

.

 

***

 

~ Chloe ~

 

**_***_ **

****

**_15 thOctober 2012, _ **

**_Barden University,_ **

**_The Auditorium, (Chloe’s Senior Year)_ **

_“I can see your toner for Jesse.” Aubrey calls loudly after the petite brunette, her left eye twitching in frustration._

_“My what?” The smaller girl looks bemused as she turns to face the taller girl._

_Chloe watches with bated breath as the younger girl refuses to back down; she was stood firm and her arms were crossed protectively across her chest. God she’s such a badass._

_“Your musical boner. I saw it at Hood Night. It’s distracting.” Chloe’s best friend bites back, gritting her teeth as she glares at Beca. If looks could kill, Beca would probably have turned to stone by now._

_“Yeah, that’s not a thing. Don’t tell me what to do. You’re not the boss of me. I’m the boss of me.” She smirks coquettishly, sending a saucy wink to Chloe, who practically melted on the spot._

_“I’ll kick you out of the Bellas, I swear to God-” The blonde straightens her spine even more than before, as though prepping herself for an attack._

_“I’m pretty sure you need me more than I need you, so I wouldn’t really bother…” Beca trails off, finger-gun saluting Chloe, before sauntering out of the auditorium._

_._

_._

_._

**_8 thJanuary 2013, _ **

**_Barden University,_ **

**_Beca’s Dorm Room, (Chloe’s Senior Year)_ **

_Chloe watches as Beca paces back and forth in the small constraints of her room; waves of frustration emanating from the younger girl to such an extent, that she was sure if she lit a match, the explosion that was sure to follow would be immense._

_“Aubrey is such a- such a bitch! She really needs to remove that stick from her ass, otherwise people will be playing her like a puppet.” Beca groans as she throws herself onto the bed where Chloe was currently sitting._

_The redhead rolls her eyes for what feels like the thousandth time; a habit she picked up from the younger girl, much to Aubrey’s irritation. She knows she holds a loyalty for Aubrey, but there is something about Beca. This… pull. She was magnetising, that’s for sure._

_“She really needs to get laid.” Chloe chokes on her breath at the unrelated comment, and Beca chortles as she watches the girl struggle to breathe._

 

_“Yeah, like seriously. She must be a virgin. I’ve never seen someone so uptight in my li- OUCH!” Beca yelps as Chloe elbows her in the stomach none too lightly._

_“That’s my **best** friend you’re talking about.” Chloe mutters half-seriously; Aubrey is her closest friend and she usually doesn’t tolerate people belittling her. However, watching Beca going off on her tirade was too adorable._

_“Yeah well, best friend or not, I actually was seriously contemplating getting her a dildo for Christmas.” Chloe tries to hold back a laugh._

_“How very thoughtful.” She comments sarcastically._

_“Well… orgasms make **everything** better.” She purrs suggestively, biting down on her bottom lip; a small smile graces her lips as she notices Chloe’s eyes follow the movement._

_._

_._

_._

**_12 thMarch 2014, _ **

**_Barden University,_ **

**_The Bella House, (Chloe’s First Super-Senior Year)_ **

 

_“Girls! I hope everyone is listening to me!” Chloe yells at the rowdy group of singers as they all gather into their moderately sized sitting room._

_As it turns out, no one is listening._

_Chloe can feel the change in atmosphere the moment Beca enters the room; she never had to turn and check, she just **knows** it is Beca. Everything feels lighter somewhat._

_Placing two fingers into her mouth, the smaller girl lets out a shrill whistle that immediately silences the group. Nodding at Chloe, she takes a seat on the arm of one of their sofas, ensuring that everyone remains quiet._

_“As you know, we’ve had some water problems lately with regards to the house. We are using too much water in general and the costs are extortionate…” She trails off at seeing blank looks from some of the girls. “High,” she clarifies. “We need to cut down on how much we use daily. Clearly, we need to drink water to stay healthy, so I’m referring to brushing our teeth, taking baths, and taking showers.”_

_Mumbles and groans can be heard from every single girl in the group as they mostly seem to glare at Amy; except for Beca, who rolls her eyes dramatically._

_Standing up, the brunette captain claps her hands once. “Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth. No baths unless there are extenuating circumstances,” she glowers at the girls daring them to come up with stupid excuses._

_Luckily for her, everyone remains quiet. “And showers up to and less than ten minutes. Am I clear?”_

_Stacie raises her hand._

_Beca sighs. She has a feeling she knows what the overtly sexual sophomore is going to ask._

_“Yes?”_

_“If we share a shower, can we take a longer one?” She innocently asks as she files her already perfect nails._

_Beca slaps a hand to her forehead._

_“No, but seriously. If each girl can take a shower for ten minutes, then if they share one with another Bella, their time gets added on since it all adds up to the same total amount.” She grins as though she had won the lottery; Cynthia-Rose nods eagerly to that idea. Surprise, surprise._

_The loud chatter begins once more; only this time, the vivacious girls are discussing sex in the shower._

_Chloe groans loudly. So much for having an adult conversation._

_Beca makes her way towards the door, but before she passes by the redhead, she leans in close to Chloe’s ear, “I think you and I know better than anyone how good the shower acoustics actually are… just imagine how much water we’d be saving-” she winks, pausing for a moment as she observes the heat rushing to Chloe’s cheeks. “-and how many shower duets we’d have together.”_

_Chloe’s jaw drops; she’s too stunned to watch Beca stroll out of the room._

_._

_._

_._

 

 

 

 

“Oh please, Chloe. Tell me something; if you found me so frustrating, why couldn’t you keep your hands off me?” Beca raises her eyebrow in a challenging manner.

 

**Oh Bugger,** Chloe thinks.

 

 

 

 

.

.

.

 

 

***

~ Chloe ~

 

**_***_ **

**_11 thOctober 2012, _ **

**_Barden University,_ **

**_Hood Night, (Chloe’s Senior Year)_ **

_Chloe stumbles her way up the stairs of the amphitheatre, an uncomfortable feeling churning in her stomach as she watched Beca conversing with that new Treble… Jacob, or, Jackson… something like that._

_Just as she reaches the freshman, the Treble had just left; so, she quickly takes his previous spot, gripping tightly onto Beca’s hands as she pulled her into her, extremely close._

_“Um,” is all the brunette utters._

_“We’re going to be really fast friends,” Chloe breathes, momentarily speechless as she stares deeply into her now favourite pair of stormy grey eyes._

_“Well, you saw me naked,” she winks._

 

.

.

.

 

****

**_16 thMarch 2015, _ **

**_The Bella House_ **

**_Chloe’s Bedroom, Night,(Chloe’s Second Super-Senior Year)_ **

_Creak._

_Chloe’s eyes shoot open in alarm as she registers the almost imperceptible sound of floorboards creaking; the ones just outside her room. Feeling herself begin to pale in terror, she regrets letting Amy talk everyone into watching that scary movie with the uber-creepy dolls; Carrie, she thinks it is called._

_She used to have a doll as a kid; one that terrified her so much since she always felt its eyes on her. She’d only had it for about a month before she ultimately forced her parents to throw it out. The fucking thing gave her nightmares and, well if she were being honest, those nightmares came back to haunt her every now and again._

_But this film… she had no words. If it weren’t for the fact that she had chickened out of asking Beca to sleep with her, erm, in her bed, then she’d not be as petrified as she currently was. However, having seen Beca duck off early, and Amy not that long after, she knew there’d be no way she could possibly ask Beca in front of the Australian, lest the girl reveal her feelings for the surly brunette._

_She’d actually found out rather recently that they all knew how she felt about the brunette, which admittedly, did scare her; she wondered, not for the first time, whether Beca herself knew._

_She was torn from her musings by another creak, swiftly followed by the sound of her door handle turning, the locks releasing, and the door swinging open just a smidge._

_Heart pounding, she inhales deeply, before reluctantly opening her eyes and startling when she realised that a face was leaning over hers, barely three inches away._

_She relaxes instantly at seeing that the face belonged to Beca, the woman of her conflicting thoughts._

_Her heart feels as though it is going to beat out of her chest when she realises that the brunette is lifting the covers for herself, in order to slide into the bed with her, just as Chloe had wanted all along._

_The other girl turns around so that her back is facing Chloe’s front, and Chloe takes the opportunity to scoot forwards, slotting their bodies together. It is at times like this that Chloe is unable to believe that her and Beca weren’t made for each other; they fit together like two pieces of a puzzle._

_She almost gasps when the smaller girl reaches behind her for Chloe’s free arm and pull it so that it rests around her stomach._

_._

_._

_._

****

**_16 thMarch 2015, _ **

**_The Bella House,_ **

**_Living Room, Evening,(Chloe’s Second Super-Senior Year)_ **

_Fear._

_That is the only word running through Chloe’s mind at the moment. Well, that and a lot of choice swear words to call Amy for even suggesting this in the first place._

_ Carrie _ _._

_Even the name is enough to reduce the normally assertive redhead to nothing more than a quivering and shivering ball of mush._

_She. Does. Not. Like. Horror. Movies._

_Period._

_Add to that a horror movie which includes one of her childhood peeves, haunted dolls, then she’d usually have booked it as soon as she possibly could have, citing the reason as ‘unfinished Russian Lit homework’._

_The problem is, and as was usually the case these days, Beca._

_Normally her co-captain would have locked herself away in her room at the mere mention of the ‘m’ word [that shall not be named], but much to Chloe’s glee, she’d been having difficulties with Jesse lately and said she could use the distraction._

_So naturally, Chloe had to stay._

_It hadn’t even been ten minutes into the movie and she was already burying her head into Beca’s shoulder to shield her eyes. And whilst she’d normally consider this her heaven, the loud music and screaming from the other Bellas only made her clutch on Beca firmer; fear gripping her heart tightly._

_So, it could only come as a surprise to her when Beca pulls away._

_She’s not going to lie, that hurt._

_However, the feeling doesn’t last long as she realises the other girl is simply adjusting her position in order to pull the redhead into her chest instead; her left arm wrapping around Chloe’s body and holding her closely._

_._

_._

_._

 

 

 

“Oh, don’t look so smug Beca, it didn’t happen that often!” Chloe snaps, even though she knows Beca is right.

 

Beca raises her eyebrow.

.

.

.

 

 

***

 

~ Beca ~

 

**_***_ **

****

**_15 thMay 2016, _ **

**_The Lodge of Fallen Leaves,_ **

**_Tent, (Chloe’s Third Super-Senior Year)_ **

****

_Beca hates Aubrey._

_Okay, so maybe not as much as she used to; she may even be inclined to lean towards the fact that they could almost be described as… friends._

_Almost._

_But being crammed inside a hot fucking tent with nine other girls is not her idea of fun. At all. Some may even say she loathes it. It’s not that she hates her girls, quite the opposite, she just doesn’t do… physical contact._

_Except with Chloe, but that is a whole ‘nother conversation for a different time._

_It’s something that was one actually of the main roots of her break up with Jesse a few weeks before… the contact thing… although, now that she thinks about it, Jesse would often frown whenever Chloe was brought up. But let’s steer away from that, shall we?_

_Each Bella was, as per the instructions of one tall and intimidating blonde EX-Captain, (emphasis on the ‘ex’), sleeping head-to-toe. So, on one side of Beca sleeps Lily, and the other, Chloe. If she’s being honest, she knows Chloe bagged the spot next to her the moment she was forced to sleep in the middle. Not that she’s complaining, and as much as she tries to hide it from anyone, she slept easier when her best friend was there. It is just a thing._

_With nothing but mere inches between them, she and Chloe lie facing one another; that in itself is the reason for her quickened heartrate and sweaty hands. And as much as she would NEVER admit it to the other girls, this was not the first time she and Chloe had been in this position. Well, maybe it was the first time with their bodies lying in opposite directions, but they’ve slept next to one another often enough for this to feel kind of normal._

_So, excuse her blatant surprise when she feels Chloe’s minty breath wash across her face, her hand brushing a strand of her hair out of her face, and the words “do you need a backrub” that swiftly ensuing. Jesus._

_However, that was nothing compared to witnessing a wicked smirk on the redhead’s lips, followed by a sly wink, and the coo of, “my biggest regret is that I didn’t do enough experimenting in college”._

_“You’re so weird” were the only words that were physically capable of escaping her lips lest she do something she regrets, and so, she swiftly turns away from Chloe; heart in her mouth._

_._

_._

_._

 

 

 

 

“Is that all you can think of?” Chloe smirks as she spots the tell-tale redness spread from Beca’s neck, to her ears and finally to her cheeks.

 

“Sorry, I was just a little distracted by your dizzying eyes.” Beca breathes.

 

 

 

 

.

.

.

 

 

***

~ Beca ~

 

***

****

**_4 thOctober 2012, _ **

**_Barden University,_ **

**_The Auditorium, (Beca’s Freshman Year)_ **

_Chloe and Aubrey have split the groups into two, in order to try and get the girls up to speed with learning the choreography._

_She is more than happy to be with Chloe and not Aubrey, at least Chloe wouldn’t push her._

_Well, maybe in a different way, at least._

_“Yeah. I got it.” Beca mutters as Chloe guides her through the movements, their bodies pressed closely together, and their fingers practically intertwined..._

****

**_._ **

**_._ **

**_._ **

****

**_22 ndMarch 2018, _ **

**_The USO Tour,_ **

**_The Casino, Spain_ **

_Of course, Beca and Chloe would find it instinctive to gravitate towards one another without prompt. It’s what they do best._

_Beca leads Chloe down a busy pathway through the Casino, ensuring to stay close to one another in case there was a chance of being separated. Which, with Chloe’s attention span, was always more than likely._

_Before Beca knows what is happening, she is practically taken off her feet by the exuberant redhead as she is backed into a wall with nothing more than mumbled words thrown her way._

_Now, Beca is all for being pinned to the wall by Chloe, but they were in public and- hang on- what on earth was that unusual warmth covering her breasts?_

_Looking down, it takes everything within her to not moan because yes, she has dreamt about this more than she’d care to admit, and yes, her breasts fit within Chloe’s hands perfectly._

_“What is this about?” She asks calmly, noticing that the redhead had yet to look at her or remove her hands; not that she was complaining._

_Feeling a gentle pressure on her breasts as the hands covering them squeeze experimentally, she watches as Chloe turns her attention towards the placement of her hands. To Beca’s glee, they seem perfectly happy where they are, and she gasps a breath as the hands squeeze once more._

_“What kind of bra are you wearing?” the older girl mutters as she continues to periodically squeeze Beca’s mounds._

_It takes Beca a moment to formulate a response._

_“I’m not,” Beca whispers, and Chloe’s eyes shoots to hers; surprise colouring her face._

_It could have been minutes or hours that the two girls were simply gazing into each other’s eyes and if Beca was not mistaken, not only was the older girl slowly leaning in, but her hands had loosened their hold and instead her fingers had started encircling the tips of her-_

_“What are you guys doing?”_

_._

_._

_._

**_16 thSeptember 2013,_ **

**_The Bella House,_ **

**_1 stDay of Beca’s Sophmore Year_ **

_“Ooomf,” is all Beca can say as she feels a body crash into hers the moment she walks through the front door of their newly acquired Bellas’ House._

_Spying the cherry red hair, she allows herself to return the embrace knowing Chloe would be upset if she didn’t. She could never handle those puppy eyes very well._

_“I missed you so much, Bec.” Chloe whispers as she tenderly kisses her cheek and quickly takes Beca’s suitcase from her hand._

_Soon enough, a stampede of people rush down the stairs to welcome her back and distracts her from what just happened._

_For now._

_._

_._

_._

****

**_29 thApril 2015,_ **

**_Barden University,_ **

**_Café on Campus, (Beca’s Junior Year)_ **

_Having woken up surprisingly early for a Saturday morning, thanks to Chloe’s persistence, she groggily allows the Super-Senior to intertwine their fingers as they made their way to their usual coffee shop._

_She always marvels at the softness of Chloe’s hands, as opposed to the roughness of Jesse’s, and it never failed to comfort her in some way. Like the world felt that much lighter than usual, just because Chloe held her hand._

_After having taken a seat at their usual booth, their coffees already ordered, they plan their next Bella practice; the routine and what songs Beca was thinking of using._

_The moment their coffees arrive, Beca quickly brings it up to her lips; inhaling the bitter aroma and taking a carful sip of her heaven. Mmmm._

_Placing her mug back on the table-top, she notices her companion smiling at her almost adoringly, as she let out a small giggle._

_“What?” Beca smiles, confused as to what is so funny._

_Chloe leans forward, her thumb outstretched, and quickly wipes away the residue froth from the corner of her lips._

_Beca freezes._

_Her stomach churns as she watches Chloe lick the froth from her thumb, the redhead’s eyes never once looking away from her own._

 

 

.

.

.

 

 

Chloe stares silently at the victorious smirk on Beca’s lips, hating that she doesn’t actually hate the smugness that was emanating in enormous waves off of the smaller girl. She’d have slapped it off of the girl’s face if she could have… but who was she kidding, she loves Beca too much to even consider hurting her. The younger girl’s smirk had always been a weakness of hers, and goddamnit, Beca knows that.

 

Huffing a sigh, she glowers at her girlfriend. She knew she had valiantly fought a losing battle, at least when it came to her touchy-feely nature.

 

“Fine.” Chloe growls. “Maybe I didn’t find you that frustrating at the beginning of our friendship, but I know for a fact that you liked me first.”

 

_Lie_.

 

She didn’t. Beca was actually a heck of a lot more difficult to read at the beginning than she is now.

 

Beca is silent for a few moments, quietly assessing her girlfriend as she had her small tantrum.

 

Lifting her phone up, whilst ignoring the hundreds of missed messages from the Bellas and her family, she brings up the app that enables the girls to call each other at the same time and presses the _call_ button, setting it to loudspeaker.

 

One by one, the calls were answered, and the girls were so anxious to hear from them about how they were doing in spite of what they heard on the news, they begin frantically talking over one another.

 

The last thing Beca wants to do was talk about the bomb, as much as she loves and trusts them, they needed a sense of normalcy. An escape from reality.

 

“Guys- GUYS!” She calls, the other girls immediately hushing at her “Captain” tone.

 

“Beca, is everything okay? Please tell me you are both okay? It’s all over the news that a bomb was found in your apartment and that you guys are still in there.” It was Aubrey, and the genuine worry in her voice was almost enough to break down her defences and have her wail about how unfair life was.

 

“Yeah Cap,” Amy’s voice comes through loud and clear, unusually serious for a change. “You know we’ve got your back.” A short silence follows, and Beca assumes Lily murmured her assent to the statement.

 

She shares a tender look with Chloe, who had also sobered up; these girls were their family. They meant everything to one another.

 

“We’re both okay. Yes, we are still here and no, I am not leaving without her.” Her girlfriend sends her a glare, ready to fight her, but Beca silences her with a look.

 

“Chloe and I are having an argument-”

 

“Oh shit, Cap! You better run!” Came Amy’s unhelpful advice, followed by hums of agreement from the other girls.

 

“No-”

 

“Did she make you sleep on the couch? Ouch girl, I couldn’t live without sex. I need it as much as I need oxygen.” Stacie adds, also unhelpfully.

 

“I-” Beca starts.

 

“Just finger her into oblivion. Chloe loves sex.” Cynthia-Rose cackles loudly through the phone.

 

The brunette face-palms herself, although secretly agreeing with Cynthia. Her redhead could give Stacie a run for her money in the bedroom, that’s for sure.

 

“Gross guys, that’s my best friend you’re referring to!” Aubrey chastises.

 

“ChloeandIarefightingoverwholikedwhomfirst.” Beca spits out quickly.

 

Silence ensued.

 

“Let me get this straight… or not straight.” Aubrey says after a long moment. “There is a bomb in your apartment, your lives are seriously in danger, and you’re fighting about who liked whom first?”

 

Beca pauses and Chloe rolls her eyes. “Pretty much.”

 

Another long moment passes.

 

Before anyone else can answer, Stacie cuts in. “Beca.”

 

Fat Amy contradicts her immediately. “No way Legs, Ginger Snap definitely fell first.”

 

Beca quickly intervenes with an offended, “What do you mean I liked her first?!”

 

Stacie chuckles loudly, the other girls joining in. “Sweetie, you weren’t straight. That’s a start. The amount of plaid you own and eye-liner you wear is a dead giveaway. Added to the fact that the only person you ever allowed into your personal space is Chloe, there’s your answer.”

 

“Actually Stacie, I agree with Amy.” Aubrey interjects, causing Beca to smile as the blonde came to her defence.

 

“Chloe was all over Beca in her first year.” Chloe emits a squeak in protest. “For God’s sake, the first time we met the girl, she insulted A Cappella; something Chloe lives and breathes. And yet afterwards, all Chloe could talk about was how interesting Beca seemed, and how mysterious she was. And don’t even get me started on their shower-”

 

“What!”

 

“What shower?”

  
“Go Beca!”

 

Was what comes through the receiver from the other girls.

 

Beca gloweres at Chloe, “You told her!”

 

“- and the amount of times Chloe had her door locked, jamming to her lady jam was just-”

 

“OKAY! THANK YOU, AUBREY!” Chloe desperately interrupts, humiliation creeping up her spine.

 

Beca mutes the call, sending her girlfriend a seductive look from under her lashes. “You jammed to Titanium after our shower?”

 

Pushing aside her embarrassment, knowing Beca would never judge her, she sends her a timid smile. “More than you could ever believe,” she says honestly.

 

“Me too,” Beca smiles, a flush spreading across her cheeks once more.

 

Unmuting the call, she feels reality start to settle around them once more, so she thanks the girls and hangs up.

 

Beca casually comments, “You were totally jealous of Jesse though.”

 

“Yeah, well you were jealous of Tom.” Beca notices Chloe never denied it.

 

“Pfft. No way. He was good looking sure, but he had no personality. What about that guy from your Russian Lit class who interrupted our lunch that one time to hit on me, and you glared him away.” Beca jokes.

 

“Ugh. You mean _Dull Danny_? Puhlease. I did you a favour. He’d have bored you to death with historical facts about dry-walling.” Her girlfriend scoffs, displeasure evident in her tone.

 

“Oh yeah? And Theo?” Chloe rolls her eyes.

 

“Well what about Chicago!” Chloe shoots, guilt immediately filling her chest when she notices how quiet Beca had gone all of a sudden.

 

The brunette looks down at her hands, “I thought I had lost my chance with you. Those two years we shared a bed, I was building up the courage to say something, and seeing the way you looked at _Captain America_ … it almost broke me.” She rubs at her eyes with the balls of her fists as her past troubles begin to fill her mind once more.

 

“Babe-”

 

“It’s fine, I’m fine,” Beca tries to smile reassuringly. “It became too real during that Tour. I had pieced together how you felt for me and I thought that I had been mistaken; that I had imagined it all. Either that, or you had… _moved on_.” Chloe’s heart breaks at the crack in Beca’s voice.

 

“I couldn’t move on, darling. He wasn’t you. He may have caught my interest, but you caught my heart.” It takes a second, but Chloe can see the moment her words register with Beca. The smile that overcomes her face is beautiful and for now, it felt like it was just the two of them lost in their own world.

 

Beca hesitates, before commenting gently, “You never said you weren’t jealous of Jesse. Were you?”

 

Looking away, Chloe purses her lips. “You kissed him the moment I had decided to tell you how I felt. How could I not be? He had you for those three years whilst I had to watch. You already had my heart at the time.”

 

Beca holds her hand out for Chloe to take, which she does, and the silence is almost comforting.

 

Almost.

 

“I still can’t understand who would do this to us. Do you really think you were targeted?” Disbelief continues to shine in Beca’s tone; she is still unable to believe anyone could hold a grudge against the sunshine she was lucky enough to call her girlfriend.

 

“I-I don’t know, babe.” There is now a hesitance in her voice that wasn’t present before; as though she was holding something back.

 

It was unsettling to say the least; Beca and Chloe were as open as a book with one another. The last time Beca had voluntarily hidden anything from her was when she had pushed aside her feelings for the redhead for the large majority of their time at Barden and when they had shared their tiny apartment in Brooklyn. Heck, they had almost lost everything because of secrets.

 

Confessing their love for one another at the end of the USO Tour had been the very day both girls had sworn to never let anything between them go left unsaid.

 

Clearly _not_ anything.

 

“Have you noticed _anything_ off lately?” Beca pushes, a little more persistent this time.

 

When Chloe’s eyes flicker to her own before looking away, she knows for sure she is right.

 

“Babe?” Beca can feel the impatience begin to rise, which is highly unusual when considering the fact that Beca has only ever been unendingly patient with the girl. Maybe it’s the situation, maybe it’s everything that is at stake; but Beca _needs_ to know.

 

Swallowing harshly, Chloe clenches her fingers against her sides; the material of her shirt scrunching with the movement. It was how she normally channelled her apprehension, similar to how some use stress-balls and others, fidget spinners. The pressure of the action upon the muscles of her forearm and fingers allows her to focus on that and distract her attention from the thing that was causing the anxiety in the first place.

 

This is a conversation she’d been hoping to avoid completely. There was a reason she hadn’t told Beca what was going on; she knows how protective the other girl is was and, don’t get Chloe wrong, she adores Beca for it. But things have been getting stressful lately for Beca at work; what with the endless amount of tours she has been on and singles that she has had to perform. The last thing she knew Beca needed was to worry about their safety.

 

“Okay Becs, you’re right. There’s something I haven’t been telling you.” She pauses when she notices Beca grit her teeth, her guilt rising uncontrollably. “I’m sorry baby. I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you, but it started about three months ago.”

 

Tears prickle at the corners of her eyes and she sniffles slightly, an action that caught Beca’s attention immediately; waving metaphorical red flags in the brunette’s peripheral.

 

Worry overcomes Beca’s features and her anger is momentarily forgotten. She makes as if to stand, but Chloe gestures her to remain sitting.

 

“What is it, babe?” Beca coos gently, trying to coax Chloe into letting go of whatever reservations she has and open up to her. “What started three months ago?”

 

“The letters,” is all the redhead can say before she burst into tears.

 

Beca shoots to her feet and, mindful of her strict orders, stops before the circle stretching out her left arm to brush away Chloe’s tears. The redhead quickly grabs a hold of the hand and nuzzles her nose into her girlfriend’s palm tenderly, cherishing the temporary warmth that only Beca could provide her.

 

“What letters?” Beca asks warmly, trying to reassure her girlfriend that she is there to support her no matter what.

 

“T-the letters s-someone has been p-putting through our letterbox f-for the past three m-months.” Chloe hiccups, wiping away her own tears ferociously as they stubbornly continued to fall. “They say… mean things about us.”

 

Beca stares at her silently, processing what Chloe had just told her.

 

Catching the redhead’s gaze, Beca attempts to push down the irrational fear she had felt when wondering what kind of ‘mean things’ were said in the letter. Clearly, they must have been bad enough that Chloe felt like she had to hide their existence from her.

 

It was _worrying_.

 

Their days of hiding things from one another were long gone; Beca had learnt that the hard way. But Chloe _never_ hid things from her. That was one of the first things she learnt about her. ‘ _It takes a lot of truth to gain trust, but just one lie to lose it all_ ,’ she had said one evening back at Barden; and those words had stuck with her.

 

They had reminded her of her father and how she grew up believing everything he told her because… he was her _dad_ , why would he lie to her? But leading up to her parents’ divorce and for a long period after, it was lies, lies and more lies. _I’ll always be here for you, Beca-bee._ _I’ll visit you, kiddo. We’ll do something great for your birthday this year, Squirt._

 

Beca herself had made it her mission to never tell a lie; she hadn’t wanted anyone else to feel the way she had felt at the time. It was too painful. She had lied about her internship to the Bellas, although it was more an evasion of telling anyone about its existence; she had, however, fibbed about her whereabouts when at Residual Heat.

 

As for Chloe, okay, well maybe she had hidden her feelings for her for the longest time; but the girl had never outright lied to her face. Until now, _clearly_.

 

She wonders, for the first time ever, what else Chloe is hiding from her.

 

Beca shakes her head, dispelling the thought. That didn’t need to be unloaded right now; there was a time and a place for that discussion.

 

“What kind of… ‘mean things’, Chlo?”

 

Chloe hesitates, her eyes searching Beca’s. For what? Beca didn’t know, but the older girl sighs, her arms dropping uselessly at her sides, “plastic file, bottom drawer of my desk.”

 

Minutes later, Beca returns with said folder unclipped and flicking through the sheets of paper held within.

 

The silence that follows is uneasy and Beca can feel her heart seize in her chest the longer she reads.

 

‘ _Mean’_ was a severe understatement; whoever wrote the letters was intentionally malicious, brutally spiteful, and most definitely homophobic. Phrases such as, ‘ _you will both disintegrate for your disgusting sins_ ’, ‘ _I’ve been watching you both for a while’, ‘I will make your lives a living hell’, and ‘I can destroy **everything** you have ever loved’_were particularly cutting.

 

Beca shivers; everything feels a lot chillier all of a sudden.

 

“Why would you-” Beca cuts herself off, finding herself unable to meet Chloe’s eyes.

 

Nothing was signed, not that she’d expect this person to be _that_ stupid. There was no evidence that they knew them… but it’s in the language used. Whomever wrote these clearly held a grudge, for whatever reason, against them.

 

“I know things have been hard for you lately, babe.” Chloe is quick to reassure. She doesn’t want Beca to have doubts about her, about their relationship. “You’ve been touring more than ever, your second album just went platinum, you’ve been invited to so many huge events and awards shows… babe, I just didn’t want you to worry. I love you so much, but I know you.”

 

The corner of the brunette’s lips lifts ever-so-slightly once Chloe had spoken; the woman was right, of course. She’d always been a worrier.

 

It had started just after her father had left, and she was left with her mother. She was the one who had to pick up the pieces, after all. Her mother’s health had rapidly deteriorated and Beca was left with nothing but the shadow of her mother’s former self. One evening, Beca had returned home to an empty house, which had been a cause for alarm in itself. _Twenty times_ , she had called her mother’s phone; _twenty_ _times_ it had gone to her voicemail. There was nothing she could do but wait.

 

Her phone had finally rung, but instead of hearing her mother’s voice, she’d heard someone else’s. The conversation had been a bit of a blur, but the words ‘collapsed lung’, ‘hospital’ and ‘surgery’ had sunk in.

 

By the time she arrived at the hospital, it had been too late.

 

“You’re right, Chlo. I do worry a lot; it’s only because I care so much about you.”

 

“I know you do Becs. I love that about you so much. Your kindness and your endless compassion amaze me every single day, and every single day I fall deeper and deeper in love with you. No one has _ever_ loved me half as much as you do.”

 

They hold each other’s gaze; it’s tender and so full of love.

 

Looking back down at the papers, Beca feels a new resolve settle. There must be _something_ , some clue, that unveils the perpetrator to them. She just needs to look closer.

 

Flicking through the tenth letter, she pauses. Something doesn’t quite fit. She reads a particular phrase and recognises that its style is used in quite a few of the other letters. But for the life of her, she can’t remember why it sounds so familiar.

 

She begins to read certain lines out loud in the hope that something clicks; **“ _I was watching as you disgusting creatures flaunted your sins to the world, it was barely 1300 hours and  I-”_** Beca pauses, flicking to a different sheet. **“- _not even at 0-200 hours and God already planned your demis-_** ”

 

Before she could continue, Chloe interrupted her train of mumblings with a confused, “Is that the morning or…?”

 

Beca’s eyes shoot to Chloe’s.

 

_Oh. My. God._

 

 

***

 

A quiet buzz fills the air.

 

Pause. “Are you sure?”

 

Beca is quick to respond, her mobile pressed against her ear. “Yes. There was an odd phrase that kept appearing in the letters and something Chloe said in response raised red flags. There is a history.”

 

“Very well. I will see what we can find. Thank you for your assistance Miss Mitchell.” The Captain hung up.

 

Chloe hadn’t spoken a word since Beca’s revelation; the brunette knew she was hurting, but she also knew that there was very little she could say to help alleviate that pain. _She_ was technically the cause, after all.

 

It was now a waiting game.

 

 

***

 

**_ 78thPrecinct,  _ **

**_ NYPD, _ **

**_ 65 6thAve, Brooklyn _ **

 

A thin file appears in her hands and Captain Evans stares at it curiously for a moment before opening it up.

 

Her informant summarises it for her, “Male, thirty-four years of age, dark hair, clean shaven, no record of any misdemeanours before 2016.”

 

The Captain nods, “It also says here that he was popular all throughout his education years and he was well-liked and admired by all. Oh, and get this, he was a talented singer until he was involved in a fatal accident whereby he was unable to sing again…”

 

Eyebrows furrowed deeply, the Captain wonders aloud, “The two girls seem relatively certain that this young man was behind the bombings and targeted attack.”

 

“Page 14,” was all he said as she flips to that very page.

 

“Oh my.”

 

****

****

**_ Back at Beca and Chloe’s apartment, _ **

 

Beca watches Chloe with concern in her eyes, the other girl was much too silent for comfort. Chloe was her own personal ray of sunshine; her smile could single-handedly light up an entire galaxy if given the chance. Her smile was nowhere to be seen.

 

“Hey, they’ll get him. Okay? They’ll find him, and he’ll be able to deactivate the bomb, and once everything is okay, we’ll take a long trip away from everything, hmm?”

 

“ _If_ they find him Becs. We don’t even know it was him, and even if it were, he could be in the wind. If they find him, he might refuse to tell them how to deactivate it, and then what? Time runs out. I can’t keep standing here forever.” The fact that even Chloe couldn’t see an optimistic side of things was enough for Beca to swallow her frustration and force her to not give up hope.

 

“They _will_ find him! Do you know how I know that?” Chloe shakes her head. “Because I believe in them. And, as the great Richard Castle says in Castle Season 4, Episode 6,” Chloe giggles as she watches Beca’s nerdiness appear, no one knew of her girlfriend’s love of that TV series, “If two people believe in something, truly believe in it, then anything, even the impossible, is possible.”

 

***

 

 

**_ 78thPrecinct,  _ **

 

A knock sounds on the Captain’s office door, “we’ve got him.”

 

***

 

 

**_ 78thPrecinct,  _ **

**_ Interrogation Room.     _ **

 

Handcuffs clink loudly on the table top as the wrists to which they are attached to slide along its surface, testing their durability as bruised hands clench into fists and then unclench slowly in complete fascination.

 

A pair of eyebrows raise at the suspect’s calm demeanour, although his bedraggled appearance speaks for itself in terms of his sanity. Unshaven, unkempt hair, dark circles under his eyes; a slight, continuous sniffle as though he were a heroin addict. His clothes are badly dishevelled and torn; but most alarming of all, was the manic gleam present in his eyes. Not once had he looked up from his hands since being thrust into his seat and cuffed to the table.

 

He is handsome, that’s for sure, or he _was_ at least. His face looks as though it had been carved from stone and he had a jaw line that most other men would die for. Clearly something must have happened; something awful. He _had_ the perfect track record.

 

An awkward silence continues to permeate the tension-filled room. Not a single word had been spoken by him, not for the lack of trying on the Captain’s part. She’d asked him various questions, mostly related to the bomb. He was simply… unresponsive. It was perturbing. She had been doing this for years; she had interrogated many a murderer or sociopath, much more violent than this young man. But there was something so very _off_ with him. She could feel the sweat on her palms.

 

Sniggering lowly, the suspect raises his emotionless eyes to the Captain, mirth evident in his tone. It sent shivers down her spine. “What makes you think it can be disabled, _Ma’am_? Or if it can, whether I can personally help you?”

 

His stare is penetrating, conceited even. _Oh yes_ , the Captain has indeed dealt with people just like him. They think they have the upper hand; they tease you with tidbits of information, useless pieces that offer no assistance to the case at hand. But, letting it be acknowledged that they know far more than they let on. The problem is that it often comes at a price.

 

The Captain shivers again at the dark aurora that surrounds the man in front of her, but she remains calm nonetheless. “You better hope it can.”

 

Her voice is smooth and low, a technique she uses to intimidate the person she is interrogating. It implies a threat, without physical need to appear menacing. It is subtle.

 

“The person standing on it is a good friend of mine.” She decides to bluff. “A _very_ good friend of mine.”

 

Pause.

 

A flash of anger crosses the man’s face but disappears as quickly as it came. He lets out a bellowing chuckle and continues laughing loudly even as he leans over the table to hide his face in his hands. His body shakes with delight as though he has just been told the most hilarious joke.

 

“For now,” which sends him into a new fit of merriment.

 

Slamming her hands onto the counter, the Captain pushes herself up from her seat, _danger_ coating her glare as she stares him down until he stops laughing.

 

She feels a slight twinge of pleasure at seeing him shift in his seat in obvious discomfort.

 

_Good._

 

“You see, _sir_ , that is where you are incorrect. You are an intelligent man, but you are also the manufacturer of that bomb. You know _everything_ about how it works; the detonator, the fuse, and every other little part of the device. If any of those small, but fundamental parts stop operating, it will not work.”

 

Amusement plays in his eyes, a cruel smirk curling on his lips before he bares his teeth at her, as though he were about to growl.

 

“Impossible. It is fool-proof.” He pauses momentarily, inspecting his hands once more. “I’m not finished yet; it will never be over.” He sneers.

 

Closing the file in front of her, she stands and makes her way towards the door, looking at him from over her shoulder. “Fine. Go to jail as a merciless killer, see if I care. We will find a way of deactivating the bomb, mark my words.” She turns to face him completely, looking him directly in the eye, “and you will go to prison and rot there, being known by everyone as _a cold-blooded murderer who feels no remorse for his actions or the deaths he intentionally caused_.”

 

His guffaw stops her in her tracks; her hand now resting on the door handle, frozen.

 

“No, you’re wrong. People will think me a hero; they will thank me from ridding the world of all sin. Besides, I am the only person who can deactivate that bomb. I go to jail, and your friend dies. I, Chicago Jasper Walp, want full amnesty.” He bargains.

 

The Captain growls at him. “You are a disgraced service-man. Your rap sheet, as of 2018, is full of incidents of aggravated assault, petty theft, attempted murder, happenings involving GBH, sexual harassment, stalking… and the list goes on and on. What makes you think we’ll let you simply walk free?”

 

He raises his cuffed wrists to his coat, opening the lapels slightly and reaches inside; the Captain watching his movement very carefully. Not trusting him at all, she swiftly pulls her 9mm out, turns the safety off, and silently trains it on him.

 

He places the item on the table.

 

**

** Beca and Chloe’s apartment **

 

Beca startles as she hears the front door open and then gently close. Letting out a soft breath, she stands, hopeful of some reassuring news; but the grave expression on the Captain’s face sends that hope crumbling as quickly as it arrived.

 

“It’s worse than we thought, I’m afraid.” The older woman utters regretfully, her lips pursed in a thin line as she warily eyes the two other women in the room. Bad news was never easy to break, especially not in life or death circumstances.

 

Beca shuffles closer to Chloe and reaches out a hand for the redhead to clasp; hoping to provide her with some of her strength. Chloe gratefully clasps their fingers together squeezing them tightly as she turns her attention back to the Captain.

 

“We have Chicago in our custody, we know he is the one behind all of this-” She starts.

 

“That’s great!” Beca interrupts, “you can just get the-”

 

The Captain sharply cuts her off. “He gave us the remote detonator on the condition that we allow him to walk free.”

 

“No. No. Absolutely not!” Beca barks, her heart thumping frantically at the thought of the lunatic on the loose. “He will continue to target us, keeping myself and Chloe at risk of serious danger, and if not us, then he could literally target anyone else. You can’t let him walk free!” She squeezes Chloe’s hand tightly, anger coursing through her veins and igniting her fury tenfold.

 

“And we won’t,” The Captain reassures warmly, and she hesitates before continuing, “but that isn’t the big problem that we are currently facing.” She holds up a small remote, so they can both see. “This is the detonator. This is what will ultimately disarm the bomb you are standing on, Miss Beale.”

 

“You have the remote, so what’s the problem?” Chloe speaks up suddenly. She was sure that physically having the remote was a good thing, unless-

 

Captain Evans purses her lips, “there’s a code.”

 

Beca scoffs as she rubs at her eyes feverishly, trying to will away the tears she can feel building up. “And let me guess, Chicago won’t tell us the code?”

 

She receives a shake of the head.

 

Chloe looks over at Beca, concern evident in her expression. She knew she ought to be worried for herself, but Beca always took things personally. It was one of the things she quickly got accustomed to when she first befriended the woman. Keeping people at a distance was a sure-fire way to not get hurt, that was what Beca had told her. But it didn’t always work. People still caused her pain. She was just better at hiding her agony from the world than most.

 

It hurts that Chloe can’t do anything more to keep Beca safe from harm’s way. She had suffered enough already, she is aware of what her potential death could do to her girlfriend. It would _destroy_ her, and no one would be able to help her out of it. No one.

 

“Perfect.” Beca throws her hands up in frustration, fixing her eyes on the wall to the side as she loses herself in her thoughts. “What if we try different combinations? Will that help?”

 

Another shake of the head. “It’s a five-letter code; the wrong combination will set the device off prematurely.”

 

Beca closes her eyes; her heart felt heavy, as though a humongous weight had just been placed atop of it. There was now a real possibility that she could lose the love of her life. It was only this morning that she and Chloe had been laughing together about their plans for her birthday next month and now-

 

She cuts herself of from that line of thinking. She has to remain optimistic.

 

Captain Evans is quick to reassure her. “We need to see what it is that we are dealing with; without the code, my team will do what they can to uncover whether there is something else that they can do to stop the timer. We have a fibre-optic scope, which is a very thin wire with a miniscule camera at the tip, that enables us to see in small, hard-to-reach places. What we’ll do is slide it very gently through the ceiling downstairs-”

 

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Beca asks, her heart catching in her throat at the thought of Chloe being put in even more danger than she currently was. She wants to say something, anything, to alleviate the fear that has clasped a tight hold on her heart. A small part of her is still hoping that this was all just some nightmare that she has yet to wake from; the ones that feel so real, but you can do nothing but watch them play out.

 

“We will be as careful as humanly possible. You have my word. We will start from the other side of the room, and slowly and meticulously navigate it through the wiring. I have to warn you, there may still be a chance that this will cause some minor tremors-”

 

Chloe interrupts forcefully, “with all due respect Ma’am, just do it. I can’t keep standing forever.”

 

The Captain nods and takes her leave.

 

Chloe tentatively tries to get Beca’s attention, “Beca-”

 

“Don’t even think of asking me to leave. I won’t.” Beca says stubbornly, knowing that that was exactly what Chloe was going to ask. She feels bad though; she appreciates how much Chloe cares about her wellbeing, just as she always has done, but she has her resolve firmly in place. Chloe can ask and beg her all she likes, but Beca will not leave her side. Ever.

 

“I know. I know.” Chloe huffs a weak chuckle. She can’t say she didn’t try. “We don’t know what will happen, but I need you to do something for me. I won’t be able to do it myself.”

 

Beca smirks. “You need me to hide our homemade porn videos?” Her mind flickers back to the daring moment they had decided to spice up their sex life. That had been a good evening.

 

She receives a glare in response. “Be serious, please. There’s something I need you to do.”

 

Sensing the serious turn in her girlfriend’s tone, Beca sobers. “Anything, babe.”

 

“Not now though. I just need you to promise me that when the time comes that I ask you, you’ll do it.” Chloe is begging now. Her eyes widen as her lower lip begins trembling; only this time, it wasn’t intentional. It wasn’t a playful ploy to get Beca to do something for her because she loved that the girl would drop everything to do it. It was so important to her that Beca promise her this, even though she wouldn’t know what it was she was promising.

 

“Of course I’ll do it, Chlo. But please don’t think like this.” She swallows painfully, her breath scratching against her dry throat. She tries to ignore the way that the redhead is now beginning to plan for the worst; it is painful in every single possible way. She wants to reassure her for the nth time that things were going to turn out okay, that nothing bad would happen to them. But she couldn’t. No one could.

 

Chloe sighs heavily; this is taking an enormous toll on the both of them. It’s as though they have lived an entire lifetime within just a couple of short hours. “I have to be realistic, Becs. My legs are already starting to feel tired.”

 

She tenderly massages the aching muscles of her upper thighs, which had begun shaking slightly at the tension. She thanks God that it is her in this position and not Beca. As strong as she knows Beca is, she would not have been able to cope with the strenuous effort of standing motionless. Chloe herself is a sports fanatic; she enjoys pushing herself to the limit, be it running, weightlifting, yoga… but this… this is something else entirely.

 

Adrenaline is the only thing that is keeping her from collapsing to the floor.

 

Sensing the redhead’s internal struggle, Beca smiles encouragingly. “Don’t think about it. You can convince yourself of almost anything.”

 

She pauses, and Chloe narrows her eyes; waiting.

 

“Like you convinced yourself you weren’t crazy about me when we first met.” Beca continues mischievously.

 

_There it is._

 

Chloe glares at her.

 

***

 

 

** Downstairs **

 

“Just a little closer,” The Captain urges as she watches the fibre-optic scope weave in between the mass mess of wiring from within the ceiling above their heads.

 

She is intently watching the feed from the laptop in front of her, eyes analysing every aspect. Searching.

 

And then she sees-

 

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me!”

 

***

 

 

The Captain takes Beca out into the hallway to talk with her privately, knowing that this was something she didn’t want the redhead to overhear. Beca follows, albeit reluctantly.

 

“My team were able to get a good look at the bomb, and we now know what we are dealing with…” She trails off, unsure about how to word the next part.

 

She has known these two girls for only a couple of hours and from what she has seen, they are both so deeply in love; so very taken by one another and smitten. They look at each other as though there could never be anyone else for them, and being as young as they are, it is remarkable to see. The greatest love stories are about _beating the odds_ ; she just hopes with every fibre of her being, that these two will too.

 

Beca furrows her brows in confusion at how the older woman hadn’t continued her sentence; _wasn’t that was supposed to be a good thing_? Their aim was to find out precisely what type of bomb they had on their hands, after all.

 

She could feel her hands start to shake in trepidation. Her nerves feel as though someone had doused them in petrol; just the smallest spark could ignite everything and send her falling from the metaphorical edge.

 

Closing her eyes as if to brace herself for the reaction, the Captain continues, “The bomb has a timer.”

 

***

 

 

Beca feels her heart stop.

 

A timer.

 

The bomb had a _fucking_ timer.

 

She could kill Chicago right now. Scratch that, she _will_ hunt down his ass and beat it until there’s nothing left of him to beat. If things didn’t feel real before, they sure do now. The worst part about this nightmare was that there were no signs that she would wake up from it to find Chloe lying in bed next to her; perfectly safe and untouched.

 

The Captain sees her internal distress and tries to calm her down, “Look Miss Mitchell-”

 

“How much time is left?” Beca interjects impatiently; she hates how _weak_ she sounds, but this is the life of the love of her life she is talking about. She is desperate for a sliver of something reassuring.

 

“Twenty minutes.” Beca’s blood turns to ice. _Twenty_. _Minutes_. She holds back a scream of despair that is frantically trying to make its way up from her lungs to her mouth. She had her whole life planned out with Chloe; twenty minutes and that would be all gone. Her entire future. Up in a puff of smoke.

 

The brunette takes her phone from her pocket and sets her timer to twenty minutes, before simply staring at the numbers in disbelief.

 

“Can we deactivate it by then?” She asks cautiously, still in shock from seeing just how little time she had left with Chloe.

 

“Without the code, we can only try. The issue we face is that the fuse, which we usually target when disarming bombs, is covered protectively by a steel plate. It will be very difficult for us to access.” The Captain decides that honesty is the best method; the young girl in front of her would not take ‘babying’ lightly. Dancing around the truth will do nothing but cause pain and anguish.

 

“Can we line the floor with armour, or maybe a bulletproof suit? I once saw a film where-”

 

“Look Beca; that bomb goes off, it takes out _everything_ in its path.” Sensing the other girl was about to protest, she emphasises, “everything.”

 

Beca swallows roughly.

 

“Beca?”

 

The brunette turns to face the ajar door when she hears her girlfriend’s call, tears in her eyes.

 

“Is everything okay?” Chloe calls again when she receives no response.

 

“I’m coming.” She responds after clearing her throat. Beca then quietly sniffles, knowing she had to face the redhead whilst knowing the truth.

 

“We will do what we can, but please be realistic.” The Captain gravely orders.

 

Beca nods and makes her way back to Chloe.

 

***

 

 

Trying to smile upliftingly at Chloe, she comments, “The good news is that they’ve isolated the bomb beneath you. They’re working on disarming it as we speak, and everything should be okay in no time at all.” With how Beca is avoiding her eyes, she can tell the other girl is lying.

 

“The truth, please.”

 

Beca winces, trying to find the right way of telling her girlfriend what the Captain had told her. “The bomb has a timer.” She says simply.

 

Tears fill Chloe’s eyes at the realisation that her time with Beca was about to be cut tragically short. “How long?”

 

“Around eighteen minutes.” Chloe closes her eyes, her lower lips trembles emotionally as she releases a sob. The truth is so much more painful than either girl had anticipated.

 

Exhaling harshly, her heart sinks as she sees just how devastated Beca is. She has no regrets though, every single moment spent with this wonderful woman was worth all of the heartache. Even for the short time they had had together as girlfriends, she wouldn’t give up a single second of it. Twelve years was not nothing; it was more than most had.

 

_‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all._

 

“It’s probably for the best. My legs are getting super tired.”

 

Beca is quick to reprimand her. “Hey, don’t think like that. We’ll get you out of this. We’ve been through a lot together, after all.”

 

 

.

.

.

 

***

~ Beca ~

***

 

**_26 thSeptember 2015,_ **

**_The Kennedy Space Centre_ **

 

_Everything was perfect._

_The choreography was masterfully performed by the girls, no one had gone out of step, no one had dropped their ribbons – which was a feat in itself – and most importantly, no one had fallen flat on their faces._

_Looking out into the audience, Beca could see that everyone is enthralled by their performance, none more so than the President of the United States himself, Mr Barak Obama._

_Pride fills her entire being as she beams at her girls, transitioning once more into Ke$ha’s Timber, Beca’s secret Lady Jam – unbeknownst to a certain redhead – and Beca was amazed by how seamlessly everything was flowing together._

_There was only one person that had yet to make an appearance, their ‘show stopper’, so to speak._

_“I CAME IN LIKE A WRECKING BALL-” Fat Amy comes swinging in from her silks, as rehearsed, but Beca isn’t worried. Amy had hired an Australian professional to train her for this moment. They had this in the bag._

_Everything continues to go as smoothly as she had hoped, nothing could possibly bring them down now._

_“YOU WRE-E-ECK ME-E-AH!” before Beca could even begin to understand what was happening, a huge **RIIIIIIIP** could be heard from around Amy’s vicinity and screams of horror could be heard from all around as the girls on stage stopped singing out of surprise at the sudden turn of events._

_Turning around on the stage to find out what had happened, Beca realises that everyone was staring jaw-dropped at the Australian, and when Beca looks up, she wished she hadn’t._

_There was a huge tear down the seam of Amy’s leotard, and worse yet, she wasn’t staying still. The silks had slowly started rotating, obviously having been twisted during Amy’s latest manoeuvre, and the audience had begun screaming and closing their eyes, keen to turn away from the horror that was sure to scar them._

_Then Amy stops spinning, her vagina completely on show to every member in the audience, and Beca is almost certain the President and First Lady had never been ushered out from a performance before…_

 

 

.

.

.

 

 

 

“That’s not the same thing.” Chloe giggles, finding the story much more hilarious than she had at the time it happened.

 

Beca shudders slightly at the memory. “Scariest shit I had seen at the time.” She murmurs, eager to move on.

 

 

.

.

.

 

***

~ Beca ~

***

 

 

**_25 thMarch 2018,_ **

**_South of France,_ **

  1. **_Fat Dingo Bitch_**



 

_Britney Spears was their go-to singer in situations of dire need. So of course, when Amy’s dad threatens them with certain death, Beca knew they had to buy themselves some time for the blonde Australian to do what needs to be done elsewhere. Toxic was the only song that was loud enough to distract Fergus and have his attention solely on them._

_Beca considers it a bonus that Chloe looked so sexy when imitating Britney; she’d always found it difficult to keep her eyes off of the other girl. She had long accepted her feelings for the redhead, way before she and Jesse had even broken up._

_This was the Tour she had finally decided to sack up and confess her love to the exuberant redhead, but what she hadn’t counted on, was the charming and handsome soldier that had been vying for her attention. Seeing how Chloe had eagerly responded had put a wrench in her plans; had made her doubt everything she had pieced together about the other girl returning her feelings._

_She loves Chloe more than she had ever expected to; but she knows that if she truly loves her, if Chloe wants the soldier, she has to let her go. Chloe’s happiness was far more important than her own, and that was the way it had always been._

_Her priority at the moment, however, was to ensure that everyone got off of the boat as safely as possible, even if it meant that she didn’t. Chloe was in good hands, after all. Her loss wouldn’t stop the other girl from finding the happiness she truly deserved._

_They continu through their practiced choreography, mindful that they were adding more stomping and claps than they had rehearsed, which Chloe had caught onto quite quickly. Smart woman indeed._

_Feeling the anxiety coming from the redhead in waves as she tried to catch Beca’s eye, the brunette takes matters into her own hands and improvises. Breaking the routine, she turns in place to face the love of her life, trying to convey as much reassurance and comfort into her expression as she could; it works, Chloe nods ever-so-slightly at her, and they continue onwards._

_From the corner of her eye, Beca can see something move above her and she marginally angles her head upwards and she sees Amy’s smiling face._

_Catching Chloe’s eye, they both surreptitiously start waving the Bellas backwards, knowing that Amy would find a way to crash the party._

_And **crash** she does. Through the ceiling, in fact. With a fire-extinguisher in her hands._

_“FREEDOM!” She screams at the top of her lungs as she holds down the nozzle of the extinguisher, spraying her father and his cronies as Beca screams for the other girls to jump from the boat._

_Her eyes follow her redhead as she sprints with the others to the edge, but she turns back to Beca when she notices her not following. Panic fills her eyes as Aubrey continuously tugs on her sleeve. Chloe refuses to move, and time stands still as they gaze at one another._

_“BECA!” Chloe screams, as Beca mouths, “Go”._

_Aubrey finally manages to pull her over the side and they both jump._

_Snapping into action, Beca grabs onto Amy’s arm and drags her away from the **danger zone** as the other girl ditches the fire-extinguisher just as the first explosion went off, rocking the entire boat at the ferociousness of the blast._

_Both girls can vaguely hear Fergus cursing them from where he had fallen, and they nearly lose their footing as a second, larger explosion goes off and glass shards and debris fly around them._

_Heart in her throat, Beca and Amy use the last of their energy to sprint towards the edge just as the third and largest explosion hit…_

 

.

.

.

 

 

**_20 thJuly 2020,_ **

**_Brooklyn,_ **

**_Beca and Chloe’s apartment_ **

 

_Beca frantically sprinkles extra salt and pepper onto the dish she is busy preparing._

_Roast chicken and roast potatoes, laying on a bed of cooked carrots and celery and completely covered in its delicious smelling juices… her mouth was already watering. She had to take it out of the oven every few hours to ensure that it was cooking as it should, after all, it was a known fact that raw chicken was just dangerous._

_Chloe was due home in thirty minutes and she was stressing so much to make everything perfect. Her girlfriend had just completed her second year at her veterinary clinic and Beca decided that instead of going out like they had originally planned, that she would make Chloe’s favourite dinner._

_She had taken a half day today for the occasion; roast chickens took hours to prepare and hours to cook, not to mention that she had to go grocery shopping beforehand._

_She wants to impress Chloe; she knows that they are in this for the long haul and that she has nothing to be worried about, but damnit Chloe deserves to be wowed. She had pulled out all of the stops for this meal; heck, she had even run seven blocks to get Chloe her favourite red wine, 1998 Chateau Musar Rouge._

_She had tidied their entire apartment as best as she could, set the table, dimmed the lights and lit a few candles to give off a warm and romantic glow. Nothing but the best for her redhead._

_Not even thirty minutes later, Chloe comes through the door; arms laden with bags and papers. She stops in her tracks, jaw dropping at the sight she was greeted with._

_Her heart thumps in her chest at the effort her girlfriend had put into cleaning up the apartment for her and she experimentally sniffed the air, her mouth-watering as she takes in the heavenly scent._

_Turning to face the kitchen, she spies her petite brunette watching her with a shy smile adorning her lips, wearing the **kiss the cook** apron that she had bought her a while back. Dropping her bags and papers to the floor, Chloe moves towards Beca and sweeps the girl into her arms, greeting her with a passionate and long kiss._

_Minutes later they part, breathing heavily. Chloe finds her arms had instinctively wrapped around Beca’s waist as Beca’s had intertwined in the hairs at the base of her neck. God she loved her._

_Pulling the brunette back into her embrace, Chloe’s lips capture Beca’s, caressing them gently with her own as their tongues fight for dominance._

_Chloe breaks away at the unusual smell that filled her senses. It was… smokey…_

_Beca gasps loudly. “The chicken!”_

_They both turn to the oven where they witnessed smoke pouring out from it, filling the apartment quickly._

_Beca tears the oven open and Chloe grasps the fire-extinguisher to douse the burnt food in thick white foam._

_Silence._

_Then came the fire alarms and sprinklers._

_._

_._

_._

 

 

 

Chloe laughs loudly, “Yeah, we do seem to attract trouble, don’t we?” Chloe teases with an adoring smile.

 

Beca nods, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “But you’re forgetting the scariest thing we’ve been through, though.”

 

Chloe cocks her head to the side. _What was scarier than being hated by America, almost blown up on a boat, or caught in a house fire?_

 

 

.

.

.

 

***

~ Beca ~

***

 

 

**_26 thMarch 2018,_ **

**_South of France,_ **

**_After Beca’s Performance_ **

 

_Freedom._

_That is the indescribable sensation that Beca is feeling at this present moment. Still high from adrenaline, she walks down the stage steps with unsteady legs, confident that she is about to fall flat on her face._

_She can’t believe it is all over._

_She had taken the chance to bring her girls up there on stage with her one more time, and it had been… wonderful. They had sung together so beautifully, as always, and they had all joined hands at the climax of the song, just before Beca had walked forward to finish it off for good._

_Seeing her girls waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs was unreal. These girls had burrowed deep inside her heart with no intention of ever leaving, and what’s more, she didn’t ever want them to leave. They were her family. Her sisters. Her everything._

_She wouldn’t be who she is if it weren’t for their endless support and loyalty; she loved these girls more than anything and she owes them all so much._

_She looks into the sea of beaming faces, waiting to come into contact with her favourite pair of vibrant blue eyes. Her smile drops as she realises that she can’t find them. She scans the area around her frantically, and its then she realises she also can’t see a certain soldier and her heart drops to her stomach._

_She was too late._

_A tear falls from her eye and the girls seem to understand as their smiles follow suit._

_A hand on Beca’s arm startles her from her thoughts and she turns to see Amy with a small smile playing on her lips._

_“You know what you need to do.” Amy tilts her head to behind the stage._

_And Beca feels a surge of strength overcome her petite figure, emanating from her heart. She knows **exactly** what needs to be done._

_She sprints as fast as her high heeled boots allow and she makes her way backstage, scanning the area for any sign of red hair._

_It doesn’t take long to spot her, and her heart almost stops as she realises that her crush is standing next to the handsome soldier. It is then that she realises he is leaning in._

_She rushes forward and no sooner had she taken three long strides, Chloe catches her eye and positively beams at her. That gives Beca the courage to sprint the last few steps, closing the distance between them._

_Pushing Chicago to the side, Beca grabs a hold of Chloe by the lapels of her leather jacket and crashes their lips together._

_Finally._

_“I love you so much,” Beca murmurs into Chloe’s lips, reluctant to part as she slips her tongue into Chloe’s mouth to greet the redhead’s enthusiastically._

_It is as though heaven exists. Beca can swear that she is hearing a chorus of angels singing in this very moment._

_Pulling back to gaze into Chloe’s watery eyes as the other girl smiles widely back at her, she is sure the other girl’s whole face is about to split into two._

_Cupping Chloe’s face gently in her hands, Beca whispers, “I’m in love with you Chlo. You, you and only you. You are my everything. You always have been.”_

_Sobbing suddenly, Chloe launches herself into Beca’s arms, holding her tightly and crying into the brunette’s shoulder. “I love you too, Becs. So, so, so much.”_

_“It’s just you and me, babe.” Beca murmurs into her ear. “Forever. I’m never letting you go again, okay? We’ll get back from this Tour and Amy will have bought her own condo, and it’ll just be you and me. The way it was always meant to be.”_

_The smile she receives was worth waiting for._

 

.

.

.

 

 

“You’re right, that was terrifying Becs.” Chloe wipes a tear away from her eye. That day had been the best day of her life.

 

It was the day Beca made her dreams a reality.

 

“It really was. But, my point is that good things can still come from bad situations… even this one right now. We just need to know Chicago’s story.” Beca says resolutely.

 

“Why does it matter?”

 

“The story always matters; it’s what points us in the right direction. Who we are now would be nothing without our story. If my parents never got divorced, I wouldn’t have gone to Barden, where I ended up meeting _you_.” Chloe could hear the emphasis Beca had put on the _you_ , and it warmed her heart. Knowing that she was the reason Beca didn’t regret any bad decisions made in her past… well, it meant the world to her. If those decisions hadn’t been made, Beca would never have met Chloe nor would they have fallen in love.

 

The redhead thinks for a moment, “And if I hadn’t stumbled across you in the showers, The Bellas would never have recruited you, we’d never have won the ICCA’s, the Bellas would have remained a laughing stock, I would have graduated with Aubrey the first time, and the Bellas’ would then have ceased to exist.”

 

Chloe understands what Beca means; she is right. Without a story, one’s actions would cease to have a meaning.

 

“See, the story always explains everything we do,” Beca states confidently, “we just need-”

 

A knock interrupts their conversation, and the door slowly creaks open.

 

With a sombre expression on her face, the Captain opens her mouth, but Chloe cuts her off before she can speak.

 

“Ten minutes left, I know. Thank you for doing everything you could.” Realistically, Chloe knew the chances of being able to find a solution in such a short amount of time was unlikely. Being the ever-optimist, having hope is better than having none at all. She doesn’t know where she’d have ended up in life if she never had hope in anything. After all, if someone believes in something, truly believes in it, then anything, even the impossible, is possible.

 

Holding herself to her full height, Captain Evans maintains eye contact with the redhead, ensuring that the woman understood that this was not _her_ giving up. “My people will remain here; fighting with everything they are, to find the answer. Until the last possible minute, Miss Beale,” she promises. “But I’m afraid that I have to remove _everyone_ _else_ from the premises.” She gazes at Beca regretfully, aware that the girl will most likely put up a fight.

 

A fierce glare is sent her way, much to her expectancy, though she knows she has to hold her ground.

 

Thankfully the redhead speaks up, “may I have some time with her first, please Captain?” Chloe begs.

 

The Captain nods resolutely and waits outside.

 

“Bec-”

 

Before she can even begin to think of how she could finish her sentence, like a firework, Beca explodes. “I’m not leaving! How could y- don’t you dare, Chloe.” Beca sobs hysterically. “Don’t you dare ask me to le- I won’t do it. I just won’t.”

 

“Babe,” Chloe sniffles. “You promised me that you would do whatever it was that I asked of you. The time is now. I want you to leave me here.”

 

_God_ , that was even harder than Chloe had imagined. She wanted to be selfish and have Beca stay by her side until the end, but Jesus… having Beca give up her life, just so Chloe wouldn’t die alone; she could _never_ do that to Beca. Never.

 

Beca is quick to resist. “No. Anything but that,” she cries out as she openly weeps into her hands.

 

“Bec, you’re making this so much harder for us.” Chloe hiccups. “I _r-refuse_ to ha-have you give up your life for me. I would never forgive you.”

 

“But I wish- I wish.” The fact that the poor girl cannot even finish her sentence is simply heart-breaking. Chloe knows, what Beca means to say, is that she wishes they had had more time.

 

“I know.”

 

Apparently Beca hadn’t finished her tirade; she seems to have fired herself up instead of doused herself down. “It’s not fair. It’s just not fucking fair! We were supposed to get our happy ending! What about our plans? Our future together?”

 

“I know babe. How do you think I feel? I had been waiting for you for nine years, but-”

 

“I wish I hadn’t been so stupid.” Beca interjects, kicking her past self for her foolishness. “We could have had so much longer together. I wasted so much time. I’m so s- _sorry_.”

 

Chloe stops her there.

 

She insists passionately, “I don’t regret a single thing. A great person once said that risking our hearts is why we’re alive, the last thing you want is to look back on your life and wonder-”

 

“-if only.” Beca and Chloe finish at the same time.

 

A tense moment passes as both girls try to avoid the inevitable for as long as possible.

 

“I wish I could kiss you,” Beca hiccups.

 

“Me too,” Chloe sniffles, “Remember back when we got together after the USO Tour and before we went back to Brooklyn? When we all went to Mexico for a final Bella get together before returning to our separate lives?”

 

 “Yeah.” Beca gives her a watery smile as she loses herself in the memory of that trip; back when everything seemed… simpler. She imagines what younger-Beca would have done had she found out what the future had in stock for them. She’d probably have steered them both to LA instead, like they had originally planned.

 

Chloe continues, a small smile playing on her lips. “And we kept _us_ hidden from the girls by pretending that we weren’t together. Remember what we did?” Chloe holds out her hand, which Beca immediately takes.

 

The brunette blubbers loudly as she lets out a light chuckle. “We snuck into each other’s rooms at night to make out like horny teenagers.”

 

Rolling her eyes in exasperation, Chloe smacks Beca in the shoulder. Hard. Before re-linking their fingers and holding eye contact.

 

She squeezes their fingers; a serious expression on her face, “this is me, gently cupping your face as I pull you in for a long, slow kiss…”

 

Beca strokes the back of Chloe’s hand with her thumb, softly, “and this is me returning your kiss as I stroke the skin at the base of your neck, before running my fingers through your hair.”

 

They never lose eye contact, not even for a second. They can’t. They commit every single detail of the other’s face to memory, knowing that it could very well be the last time they might ever see each other.

 

Trying to lighten the mood, Beca giggles. “Best handshake ever.”

 

Chloe pauses. “Your hand is getting kinda sweaty, not gonna lie.”

 

“Gross. Sorry.”

 

They continue to gaze at each other, knowing this was it.

 

“You should go.” Chloe comments bravely, her heart protesting immediately. She silences it.

 

Beca purses her lips, willing away her tears, before turning away.

 

“Beca?” Chloe calls.

 

She waits for the brunette to turn around.

 

“I love you.”

 

Beca smiles sadly as her hand rests atop of her left breast; just above her heart.

 

“I love you too.”

 

And that was that.

 

***

 

 

The door closes and Chloe breaks.

 

She cries out with everything that she is as she curses destiny. She curses God for not helping her find a solution. She curses Chicago to Hell and beyond for causing both herself and Beca this unsurmountable pain. She curses herself for having wasted so much time in the first place.

 

After a few moments, she closes her eyes, forcing herself to accept her inevitable fate. There was nothing more anyone could do for her. It’s too late. At least Beca is away from danger. That’s what matters to her most.

 

They say that just before someone dies, their whole life flashes in front of their very eyes before the eternal darkness consumes their entire being. For good.

 

Chloe wills herself to succumb to every single memory she has ever had of Beca, whilst never losing sight of the perfect future they had dreamt up together.

 

 

.

.

.

 

***

~ Chloe ~

***

 

 

**_22 ndDecember 2013,_ **

**_The Bella House,_ **

**_The Bellas’ Christmas Party, (Chloe’s First Super Senior Year)_ **

 

_Everything was blurry._

_Ugh._

_Chloe shakes her head as she tries to focus her eyes on her surroundings, which proves more difficult than usual. The bright lights of the party momentarily make her see dark spots as she tries to shield her eyes, but then she realises that her cup of jiggle juice is still clutched in her free hand and determinedly takes another sip of the bitter alcohol._

_Her ears prickle as she hears a specific voice over the deafening noise emitting from the Trebles’ speakers; she could recognise that voice anywhere._

_Beca._

_Beca Mitchell._

_Beca Effin Hot Mitchell._

_Her heart thumps loudly in her chest and she is momentarily confused as to whether it is because of her state of drunkenness, the loud thumping bass of the music, or just Beca’s mere presence._

_Probably a mixture, she concludes, although her heart knows the truth._

_Beca was probably here for Jesse, after all._

**_Fucking Jesse_ ** _, she internally curses, **of course he gets the girl.**_

_She turns to see Beca standing by the doorway, simply observing the party from where she was stood. Just the sight of her is enough to ease every nerve that felt as though it were on fire and lighten the heavy weight that metaphorically lay on her heart. God, she looks stunning. From her tight ripped skinny jeans and her low-cut tank top that lay hidden under her unbuttoned plaid shirt, all the way up to her gorgeously curled hair and smoky eyes._

_Before she could lose her nerve, Chloe trips over her feet slightly as she makes her way towards the younger girl, her drink sloshing dangerously at the unsteady motion._

_“Whoa there, Captain,” Beca teases as she catches the drunk girl before she could topple herself over._

_“Bec, Bec, Bec, Bec,” Chloe babbles, “I c’n see two of’yous.” She gently slaps the girl’s cheeks affectionately and Beca blows on her face in retaliation, which makes her giggle uncontrollably._

_Before she could continue babbling away, a loud and unwanted Australian bellows at the top of her voice, “A BHLOE KISS!” as she gestures to the mistletoe coincidentally hanging above their heads._

_And by ‘coincidentally’, she means that Stacie was stood near them, holding a large stick with a piece of mistletoe stuck to its end over their heads and a large, playful smile on her face._

_The grin drops from Chloe’s lips. Of course, she wants nothing more than to kiss the brunette, but Beca would never- could never. Could she?_

_The sudden chanting of every single person in the room appears to make the decision for her, “KISS, KISS, KISS-” and before she could stop herself, she quickly crashes her lips onto Beca’s._

_All is silent. But then-_

_The hollering of the surrounding people broke Chloe from her trance and she pulled away from Beca; who had gone quiet in shock._

_Her lips were still tingling, but she knew she had to play it off or risk ruining their relationship._

_So, she did._

_._

_._

_._

**_1 stMay 2018,_ **

**_Michael’s Of Brooklyn, Restaurant,_ **

**_(After the USO Tour)_ **

 

_There was no reason to be nervous. It was just Beca._

_Although, now that she thinks about it, when has the brunette ever been **just Beca**? This was **Beca** , the most wonderful woman she has ever met in her life; the woman she’d waited for, for nine years already. The girl who had only recently confessed her love for her, on what was supposed to be the most important night of her career._

_It was just her and Beca; Beca and her._

_No interruptions._

_Nothing._

_Just her and Beca on their first proper date on a **finally** work-free weekend._

_It had been everything she had ever dreamt it could be._

_Of course, both girls were nervous, but they had a solid nine years of close friendship. Thus, their nerves hadn’t lasted long, and the moment they walked hand in hand towards the restaurant, it was just how it had always been. Casual, relaxed, no need to impress one another, and a sense of security and awe._

_Everything they had ever wanted was within their reach, at last._

_Their hands had remained lightly clasped together, fingers intertwined, on the table top as they conversed with one another whilst waiting for their meals._

_Considering the popularity of the restaurant, Beca had surprised Chloe by booking the reservation a month beforehand. She had chosen the most secluded table to give them privacy, but not too far from the hustle and bustle of the restaurant at its finest._

_Chloe had never experienced a first date like this. Beca had been charming, as usual; hilarious, as usual; attentive, as usual… basically the perfect date. She hadn’t changed a single thing in how she treated Chloe, and it amazed her._

_Tom had always been a different person around his friends, treating her as though he owned her; and when they were alone, he always seemed attentive. Or so she thought. Her high school boyfriend, Peter, had been the jock of the school. He had bragged to everyone about sleeping with her, even though the reality had been that once he tried lifting her dress during a heated make out session, she kicked him in the nuts._

_Beca treated her respectfully. She’d offered her her coat after seeing her shiver; she’d held the passenger door open for her, as well as every door they came across. She’d listened to Chloe ramble without interrupting or changing the subject._

_She couldn’t stop herself from tugging Beca into her by the buckle of her belt in order to slip her tongue into the brunette’s mouth, starting a fight for dominance. They had just arrived home, shutting and locking the front door as quickly as possible, when Chloe practically shoved her into the wall, hands grasping at the smaller girl’s hips to steady her._

_She had never done any of this with a girl before; she’d never felt the desire to, before Beca. Though she’d only ever thought of Beca when relieving herself over the last nine years, she knew the reality could only ever be better than her fantasies. And that says a lot; her fantasies were hot._

_So, of course, when Beca scratches her nails not-so-lightly up her inner thighs, Chloe keens loudly, begging for the girl to never stop. Beca had by this point, turned them both around so that Chloe was the one leaning against the wall, and the redhead was thankful for the support; her legs felt way too unstable to properly stand up straight._

_All the while, their lips never part from one another’s; they couldn’t even if they tried. It was addictive. The sweetness, the passion, the fire… the **love**._

_So, naturally, when Chloe looks down her own body, minutes later, to see Beca kneeling in between her legs, Chloe’s dress raised above her hips and panties down past her knees, she moans. Loudly. And her moaning only increases in volume when she sees Beca’s smirk widen and the girl leaning in to take a long and slow lick up her soaked slit._

_God._

_Chloe couldn’t even remember her own name. It felt **amazing**._

_Back and forth, Beca’s tongue flicks. Up, down, left to right, followed by tight circles on the bud itself. Chloe felt herself rising higher and higher as though any moment now, she was going to fall. She then makes the mistake of opening her eyes to watch the action, and when she catches the younger girl’s eye as she ate her out… let’s just say Chloe orgasms so hard that she practically grew wings and floated away all too happily._

_When Chloe was given the chance to return the favour after her legs no longer felt like jelly, she gives as good as she gets._

_Before Chloe has the chance to gather her bearings, Beca is lying on the floor, legs spread wider than ever, as the redhead feasts on her ready-made-meal. She simply can’t help herself. The brunette tastes delicious. Sweet and savoury all at once; Chloe felt as though she had been deprived of something amazing all her life, and now that she’s tried it, she simply cannot stop._

_And later that evening, after Chloe and Beca had collapsed to their bed in utter exhaustion and snuggled up closely under the covers, Beca murmured three words before drifting off to sleep._

_“Be my girlfriend.”_

_._

_._

_._

**_25 thDecember 2018,_ **

**_Beca and Chloe’s Brooklyn apartment._ **

_Chloe couldn’t believe it._

_She and Beca had already been together for eight months; eight wonderful, wonderful months._

_She didn’t know how it was possible, but she fell more in love with the brunette every single day._

_Beca and Chloe had bought a lovely new apartment together, close to where they had shared with Amy after Barden, and they were so blissfully happy together. Even though the brunette had agreed with Khaled to fly out to LA every few weeks to work on her newest album, she still came home to Chloe._

_And they made it work._

_So, when Chloe woke up bright and early on Christmas morning to the sight of the slumbering brunette lying in bed next to her, her heart sighed in happiness. Beca had tried to catch a flight home on Christmas Eve, since that was the earliest she could get away, and she almost didn’t make it home due to all the delays. It just so happened that Khaled had volunteered she use his private jet; Chloe could have kissed him._

_This was their first official Christmas together, as girlfriends._

_Chloe, as quietly as possible, slides out from under their warm bedsheets to make her way over to their kitchen; after ensuring that Beca was still asleep. The jovial lights that adorn the fireplace and walls of their living room sparkle brightly in the morning light, giving the apartment a warm and festive glow. Breakfast, check; coffee, check; blue orchid she bought from the market yesterday afternoon; check._

_Placing the breakfast tray on Beca’s bedside table without disturbing the contents, she tenderly places a kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek. Seeing Beca hum and lean into the contact, Chloe repeats the action; trailing small kisses from the girl’s cheek to her ear, down past her jawbone and to her neck where she spends a few moments lightly sucking the sensitive skin she finds there._

_Stormy blue eyes blearily blink open and once they focus on Chloe, the redhead’s heart skips a beat when she sees the beautiful smile overcome Beca’s lips. She gently places her lips upon them and holds the kiss for a few seconds, reluctant to pull back._

_“Merry Christmas, baby.” Chloe whispers._

_“Best Christmas ever.” Beca responds happily, wanting nothing more than to stay in bed with Chloe for the whole day._

_Her smile widens when she spots the breakfast Chloe made for them and they both dig in._

_Minutes later they cuddle into one another, Beca’s arms wrapped around Chloe’s waist as she leans her head onto Beca’s shoulder._

_If this is what their first Christmas together feels like, Chloe can’t wait to experience the rest of them._

_._

_._

_._

**_2 ndAugust 2022_ **

**_Beca and Chloe’s apartment._ **

 

_Chloe opens Stacie’s latest WhatsApp picture of Beca with baby Bella that she had forgotten to send them after their last visit. She gazes at the picture for a long moment and sighs wistfully. The toddler, who is now 3½, just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Chloe knows that if Bella inherits the leggy brunette’s genes, it won’t be long before she is taller than Beca._

_Beca drops herself down in Chloe’s lap, breaking her out of her daze, and takes her phone to see the picture for herself. It was clear to everyone that Beca is Bella’s favourite aunt, and Chloe fell that much more in love with her brunette every time she saw the two small brunettes together. Especially when Bella invited Beca to her tea parties. Chloe has so many pictures of their special connection, and she knows that Beca looks through them all whenever she has time._

_Seeing them both together makes Chloe so unbelievably happy, but also wistful; she wants a child -children- with Beca. She wants mini Becas and Chloes running around their house more than anything. She wants a family with the love of her life._

_She just doesn’t know how Beca feels about starting a family together. They had never discussed having children. Chloe was a little worried considering she knew how the brunette **used** to feel about them._

_After Beca had gazed at the picture for a moment, she turns to Chloe, her eyes shimmering with something she had never seen before._

_If Chloe wasn’t mistaken, it looked like hope._

_“I think our child would look fucking stunning with genes like yours,” the brunette smirks playfully._

_Chloe feels her breath catch in her throat. Beca mentioned it first. Beca, I-Hate-Children, Mitchell, mentioned having kids with her. Beca **wants** to have little Becas and Chloes too… _

_Chloe could cry._

_“Well, with both of our genes, they’d be heartbreakers. That’s for sure,” Chloe responds calmly, with unshed tears glimmering in her eyes._

_“I think you’d be a **terrific** mother,” Beca comments emotionally, holding back tears of her own. “You have the biggest heart I have ever seen. You would love them so much that they’d never wish for anyone else to be their mother. You would kiss every tear away, and coax smiles from them just by being you.”_

_Chloe covers her mouth with her left hand as her right wipes away her traitorous tears._

_“I can’t promise that I’ll be a good mother, but I promise to try and make their lives as best as I possibly can, with every breath in my body. I promise to love them with everything that I am and show them what a real family looks like. I want to give them everything because they deserve nothing less.”_

_Beca pauses, trying to find the right words._

_“I can’t wait to have children with you, Chloe Beale.”_

 

.

.

.

 

 

**_4 thJuly 2022,_ **

**_Brooklyn Charm,_ **

**_(3 Weeks From The Present)_ **

 

_Too big._

_Too small._

_Too shiny._

_Too dull._

_Chloe groans. She has already been to twelve different jewellery shops today and there has been nothing she’s even remotely liked. This was hopeless. Maybe **this** was a sign._

_“Chlo, c’mon. You will find the right one. Don’t give up now, sweetie,” comes Bree’s supportive voice from the other side of the shop._

_Thank God for her best friend; without her presence, she is sure she’d have gone insane a long time ago._

_Choosing the right engagement ring was so much harder than she had originally expected; she figured that it would be as simple as it was always portrayed in movies. The protagonist going into the first shop they find, catching sight of **the** ring straightaway, falling in love with it… Goddamn, Beca deserves the best of the best, and Chloe is determined to give it to her. _

_Price is irrelevant to her, Chloe would give her the world if she asked for it. Besides, she was in line for a promotion to become Head Vet of the top veterinary clinic in New York. She could more than afford it, and she knew that Beca would do the same for her._

_Bree offered her suggestions, helpful as they always were: “It’d juxtapose with her ear monstrosities”, “the leprechauns would see their Queen from miles away”, “this one would transition her from a respectable singer to a Beyoncé wannabe”, “she’d be dragging her hand along the floor as she walked with the extra weight”… at least they made Chloe smile through her frustration._

_Just as she is about to give up and suggest looking in a different State, something catches her eye, and just like that, Chloe feels as though her movie expectation had become a reality._

_It wasn’t as flashy as a lot of the rings she had previously seen, but beautiful nonetheless.  The wedding band itself was made from seventeen carat gold, and whilst the band itself was devoid of any tacky design, the top had been encrusted with beautifully coloured petals, green and pink in colour, and miniscule diamonds. A Sapphire lay on top of the petals, and its vivid colour takes her breath away._

_This is the one._

 

.

.

.

 

 

With that memory playing through her mind, Chloe sobs loudly into the empty apartment.

 

Beca never even knew that she was going to propose; and now, she’d never get the chance.

 

She had wanted to become Chloe Mitchell since her senior year at Barden, and knowing that would never happen… well, it was heart-breaking. There was so much to look forward to and Beca was going to have to go through it alone.

 

That is what hurt Chloe the most.

 

She is the only person Beca had ever opened up to; the only one Beca had ever **wanted** to open up to… who was going to look after Beca once she… once she… Chloe couldn’t even finish the thought.

 

She decides to call Bree; there wasn’t much time left.

 

It goes straight to her voicemail; “Hey Bree, it’s me. I-um, I just wanted to s-say that I love you. You’ve been there for me for so long, whether as my best friend or my sister, and I- thank you. If you hadn’t gathered, I don’t have much time left, but I have one thing to ask of you. Look after _Beca_ ”, she clears her throat as her voice breaks there, “Beca. I trust you to make sure she is happy, and she _moves on_ ,” her voice breaks again, “and finds someone to spend the rest of her life with the way she deserves.” _God_. “I love you, Bree. Take care of my family and the Bellas too.” She ends the message there.

 

She has one final call to make. Once again, it goes straight to voicemail.

 

“Hey Mom…”

 

 

***

 

Taking one last long look around the place she and Beca had called _home_ for the last six years, Chloe takes a deep breath before closing her eyes for the last time.

 

She just hopes it will be quick and painless.

 

A few long moments pass.

 

“What are you doing? Napping? Because I can come back later?” A voice startles her from her thoughts.

 

Chloe’s eyes shoot open in alarm and although she instinctively feels relief at seeing her brunette stood in front of her without a care in the world, her anger overrules at Beca’s recklessness.

 

With fire in her eyes, Chloe yells at her furiously, “Beca, what the FUCK do you think you’re doing?! You promised!” Red warning lights were flashing in her mind. Beca could not throw her life away for her. She wouldn’t allow it.

 

The brunette shrugs, “I promised you that I would leave, and I did. But you didn’t say anything about returning. So, I went out and bought you a coffee.”

 

“No. NO! Beca. Absolutely not. You need to leave, NOW! There is no reason that both of us should die.” Chloe can feel herself panicking again. “Please. Don’t do this to me. Not now.” She had resorted to begging again; she knew how stubborn the other girl was.

 

“Oh, I’m not here to die, Chlo. We’re gonna figure this shit out and get you off that thing. We still have a chance.” There is a steel edge to Beca’s voice that hadn’t been present before and, she’s not going to lie, but Chloe loves her even more than before. And that was something she didn’t think was possible.

 

Deciding to give her one more out, Chloe tries her best to dissuade her. “Becs, for the love of God. There is a one in ten thousand chance in getting the right code-”

 

Shaking her head at the other girl, Beca holds herself taller. “Regardless, Chlo, there is still a chance. So long as there is still a chance, and I am still breathing, I will not give up.”

 

“But-”

 

“-I. Will. Not. Give. Up.” Beca repeats slowly, enunciating each word as though speaking to a child.

 

“Becs, I have already come to peace with my death. You are not sacrificing your life because of me. What about the Bellas? Your dad? Your step-brother?”

 

“I’m not leaving you here to deal with this all by yourself. We just need to figure out the combination in…” she looks at the timer, “SHIT! Two minutes!”

 

Chloe still can’t believe what Beca is willing to sacrifice for her. It’s just- she can’t even find the right words.

 

Beca restarts her frantic pacing. “Right, so let’s recap what we know.” She stops for a moment, thinking aloud. “So, it was Chicago that sent you all of those letters threatening the both of us, and he wanted to let us to know the extent to which we had wronged him. He was the one that left the bomb outside your veterinary practice, knowing that I usually pick you up from the clinic on Fridays… but he didn’t know that you had left on the Thursday to go abroad.”

 

Beca pauses once more, trying to piece it all together.

 

“The question is what it was that drove him to do this to us. The last time we saw him was six years ago at the USO tour. What did we do to him to deserve this?” She muses.

 

“Seriously, Becs?” Chloe is shocked that the brunette wasn’t aware of how Chicago had felt about her. “He hated you. He hated what **_you and I_** had because he knew he could never compete. He wanted me, and he made himself abundantly clear.”

 

“Well I know that.” Beca laughs, “I was so jealous that he had your attention at the time.”

 

Chloe holds her hands up, “In my defence, I had loved you for six years before the Tour and had convinced myself that you could never love me back.” Chloe won’t lie, the memory still did hurt, less so now, obviously, since she was proved wrong. But it can never erase what she had been through.

 

Seeing the residual hurt in her girlfriend’s eyes, Beca feels the need to apologise again. “I’m sorry, Chlo-’

 

Chloe interrupts Beca before she could lose her train of thought. “But that’s not my point, Becs. He could see how I felt about you and tried to woo me, and knowing I had to try and get over you, I went along with it. I just had to. I thought I lost you on that boat, the explosion that followed shortly after Amy appeared; I never saw you get off that boat at first. And it petrified me. I had focussed my attention on someone that wasn’t you, and I thought that this was my punishment for waiting too long. I kicked myself. But then I saw you were alive and well and I cried in relief. It was that moment, I realised that Chicago could never be it for me. He wasn’t you. And seeing you on that stage, singing Freedom, essentially telling everyone what I had hoped to hear for the six years before that, with regards to your sexuality. I thought **finally**. I had to tell you how I felt. I remember coming off the stage and having him try to show me something backstage, so I followed. I had to let him down gently, but then you came along and kissed me… I never saw him again.”

 

Chloe sneaks a glance at the timer in Beca’s hand and her blood turns to ice.

 

Thirty seconds.

 

She opens her mouth to tell Beca to leave, but Beca cuts her off sharply.

 

“CHLOE!”

 

Thrown off slightly, the redhead manages a startled, “Yes?” thinking the other girl was wanting to tell her something.

 

Beca laughs loudly and shrieks, “No! THAT’S THE CODE!”

 

Chloe blinks slowly. “What?”

 

Moving so as to stand directly in front of the other girl, Beca grasps Chloe’s left hand in her right. “Everything Chicago has done, all of the hurt and pain he has caused us…. It was all because he was jealous of me. He wanted YOU. All this time, it was for YOU. The five-letter code is CHLOE.” Her jaw drops in astonishment. It can’t be that easy, can it?

 

_Five seconds._

 

Beca holds up the remote.

 

_Four seconds._

 

She readies her trembling fingers.

 

_Three seconds._

 

Beca types it in.

 

_Two seconds._

 

Carefully, but quickly.

 

_One second._

 

She presses **ENTER**.

 

Beca and Chloe jump at the echo of a loud click from underneath where Chloe is standing.

 

Both girls are staring wide-eyed at one another, hardly daring to believe that they are both still alive after everything that has just transpired.

 

Chloe experimentally lifts one foot off, and then the other, and before she has time to prepare herself, Beca has pulled her into her body tightly as they both weep loudly and openly, not caring about anything or anyone else. They were okay, and for now, that was what mattered.

 

***

 

That day was special for many reasons.

 

Firstly, Beca and Chloe both survived the ordeal of a lifetime.

 

Secondly, Beca never once gave up the hope that Chloe would survive; instead, staying with her until the very end and eventually saving her life.

 

And thirdly? It taught both girls to live each day as it comes; to love wholly and fully, without boundaries, because one never knows what could happen.

 

Our past is what defines us. Our present utilises our past in order to determine our future. Who we will become, depends on who we used to be and how adaptable we are to growth.

 

Time is uncertain.

 

It is never fixed, but ever-changing. It moves forwards, but never backwards; not even for a moment.

 

We must learn our lesson from Time, because sometimes, just sometimes, in moments when hope is lost, for one split second…

 

Time is **still**.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Whoa Nelly, that was one heck of a rollercoaster of a fic, huh? 26,000 words, it took me like three weeks to get the story to how I wanted it.
> 
> I know I could very easily have made it a sequel to my Flowers and Poems PP3 fic, but I wanted to have the suspect a secret. I'm sure some of you had guessed Jesse, huh? Well that was purposeful my friends. Chicago could be a most brilliant villain.
> 
> I can't believe it stemmed from such a small fic idea. I'm surprisingly proud of myself.
> 
> Don't forget to let me know what you thought.


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